EBOOK
About
It was half a million years ago that Britain first parted from Europe. As ice melted, water smashed through the chalky land bridge that separated Britain from the continent of Europe, forming what we now know as the English Channel, and the French call La Manche. The second parting, far from being a force of nature, was the choice of Britain's islanders disillusioned with Continental rule. This new study from Robin Laurance tells the story of the people whose lives have become entwined over the centuries with this iconic seaway, a broad sweep of carefully researched historical fact lightened with a host of colourful anecdotes. This diverse collection of lives covers artists captivated by its light; writers inspired by its power; tunnellers relishing its challenges; entrepreneurs turning fishing villages into smart resorts; smugglers ruling the waves, and adventurers conquering them; and much more besides, from Napoleon through WW2 and into the modern day.
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Reviews
"'Engagingly written, and brilliantly researched, a treasure trove packed with rich nuggets of information. I loved and devoured it.'"
Peter James
"'Every page told me something I did not know. It is the way history should be told - vivid, immediate and endlessly surprising.'"
Rita Carter
"'Just when the Channel is in the news most days of the week, Robin Laurance has produced a perfectly timed narrative history, the story of the narrow strip of water that made our country into an island when an Ice Age lake burst its banks. It's all here - from Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach and Dickens loathing for Calais, to the story of the Tunnel and the wartime atrocities in Alderney's slave la
Patrick Marnham