A tiger hunt in King George V's India; floggings of Burmese bandits; Charlie Chaplin's Hollywood; the coronation of Elizabeth II; the riot-torn streets of Belfast; John Lennon, looking stoned, climbing into the backseat of his Rolls-Royce at Buckingham Palace...

The distinguished historian Brian Moynahan has contributed a trenchant and illuminating history of his own country, from the height of Empire - when a quarter of humanity was British-ruled and four fifths of world trade was carried in British ships - to 1940, when the British Empire alone defied Nazi Germany, to the postwar emergence of Great Britain as the only true competitor to the United States in literature, theater, fashion, and global popular culture.

Moving, enthralling and enlightening, The British Century, a witness to the art and historical importance of the photograph, should find its way to classrooms and coffee tables, to studies and studios. Through the dramatic contrasts of 300 pages of black and white images is portrayed, chronologically, the dark and light of Britain's last hundred years. It reflects in its scope--from the grimace of death to celebrity smiles-- Brian Moynahan's combined experience as a historian and newspaper editor. He supplies a substantial, balanced and sensitive text which, like the photographs, portrays mood as well as fact and includes poignant quotations from ordinary people as well as from the famous. The photographs communicate where words would struggle. A grainy image of the Beatles in the Cavern Club, Liverpool, and the eerie view as seen by a German pilot of the Spitfire he is about to attack convey the atmosphere and emotion of the past. With detailed captions, the images may be looked at separately, and readers will be drawn to them again and again. The British Century is a book with power--and with staying power. It is not easy to forget such pictures as seven ex-First World War soldiers, looking like any old club photograph, but with only one leg between them.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Karen Tiley

length: (cm)19.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.8