The End of an Obsession

Recently, I have been obsessed with Simon Schama and the work he did with BBC and the History Channel. I watched both The Power of Art (8 episodes) and The History of Britain (15 episodes) back to back. I stumbled across the first series by accident at the library. I really liked how in POA he approached each artist via one of their great paintings and how that masterpiece effected the world of art. He showcased: Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, Van Goh, Picasso, and Rothko. I especially liked the Caravaggio and Bernini episodes since I knew nothing about either artist. I also found the Van Goh program to be my favorite. The actor who portrayed Vincent really brought the story to life by reading some of the touching letters the artist wrote to his brother Theo.
Silly me I clicked to the bonus feature and found an interview with Schama. He said after The History of Britain BBC let him do whatever he wanted and POA was the end result. Back to the library catalog I went and found five volumes would have to be requested. Off I went clicking in my requests.

With my most recent knitting project I sat and watched the series over the last couple of weeks (more like 5 weeks). I was surprised at how little I actually knew about British History. It upset me, anglophile that I am, the amazing amount of events Schama discusses in HOB which was new to me. I am no slouch on this subject, I especially like the Tudor/Stuart period, but even that episode had nuggets of facts that I had never heard before. I also really liked how Schama would taunt the viewer with their ignorance, pointing out the many myths that have been internalized as truth. The thesis that most shocked was that the British Empire was really more of an accidental empire. Overall Britain wanted consumers for their goods not really lands to conquer and control. Schama presentation rivals that of Anthony Bourdain full of snark and anger. And low and behold I was rattling on last night at a dinner party about how much I liked these series and Schama and one of my friends reminded me that he had written Citizen, about the French Revolution. Oops, I had read this in college for my French Revolution & Napoleonic Era Class. I obviously was not over-whelmed by Schama writing. Sadly, like many, I am much impressed by watching my history instead of reading it.