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  • Published: 31 July 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446475751
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 544
Categories:

Defending The Island

From Caesar to the Armada



The definitive history of England versus invasion - comprehensive, accessible and highly entertaining.

In a brilliantly imaginative blend of military, social and diplomatic history, Norman Longmate retells our island story from the perspective of its defenders, in a narrative which stretches from the Celtic tribes who unsuccessfully fought against Ceasar to the great seabourne defence against the Armada of Philip of Spain.

He has gone back to the original sources and investigated the original battlegrounds and weak spots in Britain's defences. But the real strength of his book is its seamless narrative of history, which uncovers the truth behind the legends. A mass of solidly researched fact, not readily found elsewhere, is seasoned with lively, humorous and occassionally gruesome anecdote.

The result, providing at once an invaluable sourcebook for the specialist and an enthralling narrative for the general reader, is by far the most comprehensive and accessible history of England versus invasion ever published.

  • Published: 31 July 2011
  • ISBN: 9781446475751
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 544
Categories:

About the author

Norman Longmate

Norman Longmate was born in Berkshire, and educated at Christ's Hospital. After war service he read modern history at Worcester College, Oxford. He subsequently worked as a journalist in Fleet Street, as a producer of history programmes for the BBC, and for the BBC Secretariat. In 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and in 1983 he left the BBC to become a full-time writer. He has written more than twenty books, mainly on the Second World War and on Victorian social history.

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Praise for Defending The Island

A fascinating work

Sunday Express

A rich history of the invasions of Britain... that, by relying on the words of contemporary historians, possess a freshness and immediacy

Sunday Times

An enthralling account of the defence of Britain... a solid and conscientious piece of work

Jan Morris, Independent

Here is a book Shakespeare would have loved - a fine, old-fashioned, drum-beating history of our island fortress... Longmate weaves the medieval chronicles into a compelling modern story, full of rich and often blood-curdling detail

Piers Brendon, Mail on Sunday