Old World, New World: The Story of Britain and America

Description

In OLD WORLD, NEW WORLD Kathleen Burk sets out to tell the story of Britain and America across four hundred years, from colonisation to Iraq. There are two strands to this story. The first is the grand narrative that takes in the British colonisation of America and the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War and the global conflicts of the twentieth century. This is the story of America s inevitable eclipse of its former colonial master as a Great Power, and of the enmities and sympathies, the confusions and understandings born along the way. The second strand is quieter but no less fascinating. Displaying a breathtaking command of her subject, Burk examines the relations between the two countries in many other spheres: economic, religious, cultural, social, even romantic. These two strands taken together make Old World, New World an unprecedented achievement. No one could hope to write the definitive story of these two countries and their relationship, but few will come closer than Kathleen Burk has in this brilliant book.

Kathy Burk is Professor of Modern History at University College London and a regular columnist and radio panelist. She is the author of several distinguished books on the US and its interventions in the rest of the world, and a definitive biography of A. J. P. Taylor, the famous media historian.

'An ambitious narrative... in rich detail... Burk enlightens her grand narrative with three interludes of cultural history... Old World, New World is still the most reliable, lucidly narrated and generous history of the mutual entanglement of Britain and America we are likely to have for some time. It is a story of two worlds.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'Balanced, intelligent, insightful and sometimes funny, Burk's book is sure to be regarded as the definitive work on the subject' Dominic Sandbrook, LITERARY REVIEW 'OLD WORLD, NEW WORLD should be compulsory reading in No 10 and the Foreign Office' THE TIMES 'Immensely thought-provoking ... lucid, enjoyably propulsive narrative' GUARDIAN 'A magisterial overview of Anglo-American relations from 1497 ... Wonderful' SPECTATOR 'The scope and ambition are enormous ... there are many insights and keen perceptions here' INDEPENDENT