This covers the history of England as far back as 600s AD. It then moves briskly through mostly political events and their effects on the nation. I, personally, really enjoyed the writing and found its brevity and clarity a breath of fresh air among the many dense, elongated books of its type. My biggest fear going in would be that the bias of the author would be too great for this to be an accurate history, particularly when discussing the post-war era, but I think the author did an extremely good job removing his views (though I think they came through once or twice). Another tactic this book used to be readable was its inclusion of funny/shocking details about the main players at times, thereby lightening the mood. The only thing I didn't quite understand was the split of Ireland from the UK, though I think the author may have deftly swept away much ranting by discussing it so ambiguously. While not the end-all be-all, this book presented me with a good overview of major political events, thereby providing some sorely needed context when reading about British politics.