Simon Schama's History of Britain

It's taken a while but I finally finished Volume 3 of Simon Schama's History of Britain this week, and the highest compliment I can pay it is that it made me want to keep delving into British history.

Admittedly that can be taken a number of ways, but as I say, it makes me want to know more, and it's just a shame that I can't get that "more" from him.

I started reading it a couple of years ago when I realized that what little I knew of British history was informed primarily by Blackadder. That's not actually such a bad foundation for understanding the historical sweep of Britain, ranging as it does from the Tudor era to the Regency and the First World War, with a bunch of notable stops in between. But while the first series pulls a bunch of dialogue from Shakespeare, I eventually found it worthwhile to find out more.

My dad suggested the books, but I actually knew about them from when I'd first moved over to Southend in 2002, as the show Schama did for the BBC in tandem with the books was on at that time. So I went and picked up a used copy of the first book from the late, lamented Bookbuyers in Mountain View, and made plans to get the next two volumes.

The second volume, covering the start of the Stuart dynasty, the Civil War and the Restoration, as well as the process of wars and conquests that created the Britain that lost its empire and pre-eminence, was devilishly hard to find, and it took a trip to London and a cool £25 to procure a copy. Volume 3, by contrast, cost even more, at £30, so I just got it from the library, two or three years after getting the first one.

Of the three, the third book was the most engaging for me. This is possibly because I thought I knew the most about the time period, from 1776 to 2000, which meant I was better able to follow along. The first was good, and did a fair job of explaining Roman Britain, but for some reason I really failed to engage with the second volume, to the point that I either need to read it again or need to pick up another book about that period.

(Incidentally, this illustrates the Marie Kondo method of procuring and disposing of books: she talks about only keeping things that "spark joy", which means only reading books when you buy them. I didn't with Volume 2, but did with Volume 3, which may explain why I liked it so much more)

As to the content, I can't compare it to any other histories of Britain, because I've never read any. But contrasted with some of the other histories I've read recently (such as on Italy, Spain and the World Wars), Schama's set is nicely complete and comprehensive. In Book 3, for example, he does a good job of anchoring chapters around a single personage, like Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill or George Orwell.

I contrast this approach with a history of Italy that I read last month, the Force of Destiny by Christopher Duggan, which omits a couple of important points in Italian history. The most egregious is the premature death of Count Cavour, who engineered the reunification under the Savoy dynasty and promptly dropped dead of exhaustion. Both are attempts to explore their respective countries through the cultural landscape and the writings of the time, but I suspect that Schama, with his greater space over three books, has room to do a better job.

Picking up the book at this time is probably also the outward expression of a newly formed homesickness for London. Between the months of unemployment/freelancing and adjusting to a new job, hanging around London as I did this winter seems more appealing. At the very least I was reading a lot more, thanks to my commute. So picking up these histories of Britain allowed me to get a bit of England-fix, of the kind that I usually get from re-reading Bill Bryson or something.

In any case, I do have another history of Britain on my bookshelf, The Story of Britain by Rebecca Fraser, which is so Tory that the cover's even a deep shade of blue. I've also been eyeing up other library books, potentially even ones focusing specifically on other parts of the British Isles than England - if there's a criticism to level at Schama, it's that he focuses very little on Scotland or Wales (though he does a great job in Volume 3 of drawing a parallel between the causes of the Republican movement in Ireland and the drive for Indian independence).

And now that I've finally seen the selection at the library, I can feel good about going back and delving further into this section, particularly the books that spark joy (and thus have to be returned in four weeks).

Thoughts on Starting a New Job

Tomorrow I start my new job, one that will (at least theoretically) be permanent and long-term and full-time. Eight months since being unceremoniously laid off by my previous company, and three-and-a-half months since wrapping up my three-month contract in London.

I can't deny it's a bit scary. The first thing is the usual point of, will I be good at it, will it last, and so forth. I don't know if I suffer from imposter syndrome, or at least none of the descriptions of it have ever really resonated with me. But my mind is always open to the possibility that I may not be up to a particular set of tasks for which I would be paid. This has happened before, specifically with journalism, so it's not a completely idle fancy.

Whenever I consider this point I always remember that I'm starting a new job, not the army - if it's really terrible, I can always quit and go back to my freelance work.

The other apprehension is less serious, but it's an interesting point. I'll be completely office-based again for the first time in years, which is actually a relief but is also a bit weird because I'll be giving up an entire routine that's sustained me since about May 2016. I'd get up early-ish, shower and shave and have breakfast, do my Khan Academy and Duolingo, and then work until 8 hours were up, whenever that might be. I'd take breaks to go for walks, and to grab lunch, and if I was really stressed I'd nap for a few minutes to clear my head (I sense I'm going to miss this one in particular). During my lunch breaks, I'd watch Netflix, in part because being at home all the time is lonely, and it's nice to hear human speech.

These things are all going away, though I know in certain ways they're being replaced by other stuff. When I was working in London this winter, I fell into a nice routine of coming to the office early to grab a seat, have my breakfast and then do Khan Academy until it was time to start at 8.30. At their best routines can be adaptable to circumstances.

It's been a pretty chaotic year, from losing my job on 1 December, to kicking the can down the road for three months in London, to getting my freelance and contract work lined up in May, June and July. The routines I've set up, or maintained, in that time, have helped shield me a bit from the existential dread that creeps up when you don't know if things are going to work out.

This blog post started from the idea of considering how my life's going to change from being gainfully employed and working in an office again, but it's morphed into thoughts on routines, in part because I keep seeing a former coworker's posts on Facebook and Instagram about how glad he is that he doesn't stick to a routine, because it lets him travel the world and discover new things and all that stuff.

I remain a bit jealous of his digital nomad ways, because I like that rush of discovering new places, but I also don't envy the complete lack of structure or the way that constantly being on the road cuts you off from intimacy. Not to go down too dark a road, but this lack of intimacy has been bandied about as one of the factors in Anthony Bourdain's suicide last month (I've got him in mind too because I've been catching up with Parts Unknown on Netflix).

A routine may seem stifling to some, but to me it provides the structure that allows me to really find out where I can be free, and to exploit those weak spots. So in a way I'm already thinking about the basic routine of my life from here on in, which will be driving to work in the mornings and home in the evenings. I'm lucky enough to have found a job in my own town, so the commute shouldn't be too hellish, and this means that commute can become something to look forward to.

This is all a bit ramble-y, and I've touched on Anthony Bourdain, digital nomads, imposter syndrome and job losses, so it might be worth wrapping up here. But again, I'd like to stress that a significant part of me is looking forward to starting this new gig up and seeing where it takes me. And for the other part of me that's a little worried, I keep reminding it that I can quit if I need to, and restart the freelance thing.

Here's to new beginnings, in any case...