Covering 2,000 years of British history in 850 pages is not easy. The Columbia Companion to British History seems to be up to the task. It has more than 4,500 dictionary entries that not only cover political and constitutional history, but also provide information on social, economic, religious, military, naval, legal, and cultural history.
The compendium has been put together by six subject experts and was originally published in the U.K. in 1995 as The History Today Companion to British History. Each contributor is a specialist in a period of British history going back to 55B.C.--the Roman invasion--right up to 1979, which is the cut off point. However, many entries may contain information up through the 1990s. One good example of this guideline is in the entry for Margaret Thatcher, whose reign as prime minister began in 1979 and ran until 1990. The entry includes events such as the Falkland War and her two electoral victories in the 1980s. The drawback to the 1979 guideline is that there is no entry for the current prime minister John Major, or for Princess Diana, although there is mention of her in the entry on Prince Charles.
The entries run from several sentences to several columns in length, covering topics such as entries on blasphemy, divorce, and homosexualiy, as well as the historical events and rulers that are standard for any encyclopedia. In addition, the encyclopedia seems to be strong on entries for Scotland and Ireland. A special feature of the volume is a list of all kings and queens of England and Britain along with a list of prime ministers with their dates. (John Major is part of this list.) Another special feature is nine line drawn maps that include topics such as "Growth of the British Empire," "Tribal Britain," and "England and Wales during the Time of the Romans."
Except for the artificial cutoff for entries at 1979, The Columbia Companion to British History is a well balanced, fine one-volume history that can provide the background or detail of an event or person which all reference librarians need from time to time.
Review
A thoroughly useful and highly satisfactory book. From the Treaty of Aachen to the Zulu Wars, from George Abbot to John Zoffany, British (not English) history is honestly and lucidly set forth in succinct form. -- Times Literary Supplement
Gardiner and Wenborn's superb reference contains more than 4,500 entries on all aspects of the history of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales from the Roman invasion of Britain in 55 B.C.E. to 1979. . . . Packed with as much information as a book of this length can possibly hold. . . . This reference should be in every library, from local public branch to the major research institutions. -- American Reference Books Annual
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