History clings tight but it also kicks loose writes Simon Schama at the outset of this, his first volume of his epic two volume journey into Britains past Disruption as much as persistence is its proper subject. So although the great theme of British history seen from the twentieth century is endurance, its counterpoint seen from the twenty-first must be alteration. Change - sometimes gentle and subtle sometimes shocking and violent - is the dynamic of Schamas unapologetically personal, grippingly written history, especially the changes that wash over custom and habit, transforming our loyalties. At the heart of his history lies a question of compelling importance for our future as well as our past: what makes or breaks a nation: to whom we give our allegiance and why? And where do the boundaries of our community lie - in our hearth and home, our village or city, tribe or faith? What is Britain, one country or many, one culture or several? Has British history unfolded at the edge of the world or right at the heart of it? (...)