The Britannias; An Archipelago's Tale

Title of the book: The Britannias; An Archipelagos Tale 

Author: Alice Albinia 

Publisher: W.W. Norton

Publishing Date: 2024 

ISBN: 978-0-393-60855-7

Summary:

A revelatory portrait of Britain through its islands, The Britannias weaves history, myth, and travelogue to rewrite the story of this “island nation.” From Neolithic Orkney, Viking Shetland, and Druidical Anglesey to the joys and strangeness of modern Thanet, The Britannias explores the farthest reaches of Britain’s island topography, once known by the collective term “Britanniae” (the Britains). This expansive journey demonstrates how the smaller islands have wielded disproportionate influence on the mainland, becoming the fertile ground of political, cultural, and technological innovations that shaped history throughout the archipelago.

In an act of feminist inquiry, personal adventure, and literary quest, Alice Albinia takes us over borders and through disparate island cultures, past and present. She uncovers the enduring and subversive mythology of islands ruled by women―finding female independence woven through Roman colonial reports and Welsh medieval poetry, Restoration utopias and island folk songs―and sheds light on women’s status in the body politic today. The Britannias boldly upturns established truths about Britain while revealing its suppressed and forgotten beauty. 1 map; 14 black-and-white illustrations

Author Info:
(From goodreads)

Alice Albinia read English Literature at Cambridge University. After graduating, she moved to Delhi, where she worked for the next two a half years as a journalist and editor for the Centre for Science & Environment, Biblio: A Review of Books, Outlook Traveller, and several other Indian newspapers and magazines.

It was during this time, as she travelled around the country writing articles and features, that she had the idea to write a history of the River Indus.
In 2002, she moved back to London to take an MA in South Asian history at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where she researched the religious and political history of the Indus region.

Personal Opinion:

In discussion of history, in particular as it relates to race, the tales of colonization by one European country to another always gets overlooked. THE BRITANNIAS, by Alice Albinia, sheds a lot of light on the often ignored and untold history of the islands that create the modern day Great Britain. THE BRITANNIAS is a delightful blend of personal memory, history and fascinating anecdotes as they relate to women's history in the islands of United Kingdom, telling bits and pieces of women from ancient times to modern times, exploring various islands that make up United Kingdom. I did feel that the main argument of the story didn't match up to the rest of book, and I think I would have liked if the topics were a bit more organized. As a historical non fiction, it's a very valuable read in terms of British feminist history as well as anecdotes and tales of the islands, and I did expect more of the narrative. 

This was given for review 

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)