Summary of Winston Churchill's The Birth of Britain (A History of the English-Speaking Peoples)

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 In the year 699, the Proconsul of Gaul, Gaius Julius Cæsar, turned his attention to Britain. He knew that the island was inhabited by the same type of tribesmen who confronted the Roman arms in Gaul and Germany.

#2 Cæsar was planning on invading Britain, and had sent an officer in a warship to spy out the Island shore. He had concentrated the forces that had defeated the Veneti in two ports or inlets nearest to Britannia, and he was waiting for a suitable day.

#3 The first time the Island was linked with the rest of the world was when it was invaded by Neolithic culture. This culture had a primitive agriculture, and they scratched the soil and sowed the seeds of edible grasses. They made pits or burrows, which they gradually filled with the refuse of generations.

#4 The first Bronze Age in Britain was marked by the discovery of copper and tin, which were too soft and too brittle for their original purpose, but were blended by human genius to open the Age of Bronze.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669384182

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Insights on Winston Churchill's The Birth of Britain (A History of the English-Speaking Peoples)

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

In the year 699, the Proconsul of Gaul, Gaius Julius Cæsar, turned his attention to Britain. He knew that the island was inhabited by the same type of tribesmen who confronted the Roman arms in Gaul and Germany.

#2

Cæsar was planning on invading Britain, and had sent an officer in a warship to spy out the Island shore. He had concentrated the forces that had defeated the Veneti in two ports or inlets nearest to Britannia, and he was waiting for a suitable day.

#3

The first time the Island was linked with the rest of the world was when it was invaded by Neolithic culture. This culture had a primitive agriculture, and they scratched the soil and sowed the seeds of edible grasses. They made pits or burrows, which they gradually filled with the refuse of generations.

#4

The first Bronze Age in Britain was marked by the discovery of copper and tin, which were too soft and too brittle for their original purpose, but were blended by human genius to open the Age of Bronze.

#5

The invasion of bronze tools and weapons from the Continent was spread over many centuries, and it is only when twenty or thirty generations have passed that any notable change can be discerned. The Iron Age overlapped the Bronze, and it brought with it a higher and more efficient form of society, but it impacted only slowly upon the existing population.

#6

The impact of iron upon bronze was at work in Britain before Julius Cæsar cast his eyes upon it. The Belgic tribes arrived in Kent and spread over Essex, Hertfordshire, and part of Oxfordshire, while other groups of the same stock spread over Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Dorset and part of Sussex.

#7

The Romans had a very limited understanding of the British Isles. They believed that the islands were inhabited by people who claimed to be aboriginal, and that the interior was inhabited by Belgic immigrants who came to plunder and make war.

#8

Cæsar’s landing was successful, but his fleet was damaged when the tide came in during the night. The Romans had no other ships to return home, and they had not prepared for a winter in Britain.

#9

The British had sued for peace after the battle on the beach, but now that they saw the plight of their assailants, their hopes revived and they broke off the negotiations. In great numbers, they attacked the Roman foragers. But the legion concerned had not neglected precautions, and discipline and armor once again proved their worth.

#10

Cassivellaunus was a very successful leader, and he was able to defeat the Romans in several battles. He was a very prudent and skilled leader, and his tactics were very similar to those of Fabius Maximus Cunctator.

#11

The Roman Empire expanded into Britain in the year 43, almost one hundred years after Julius Cæsar’s invasion. The soldiers were indignant at the thought of campaigning outside the limits of the known world, but they still agreed to obey their commander.

#12

The invasion of Britain was led by the Emperor Claudius. He first defeated Caractacus, the leader of the Britons, and his brother somewhere in East Kent. Then, advancing along Caeasar’s old line of march, he came on a river he had not heard of, the Medway.

#13

The British war continued, and the Romans would not come to close quarters with the Britons, but they would not allow them to escape, taking refuge in the swamps and forests. Caractacus escaped to the Welsh border and roused its tribes, who maintained an indomitable resistance for more than six years.

#14

The conquest of Britain was not achieved without a single frightful convulsion of revolt. The king of the East Anglian Iceni died, and hoping to save his kingdom and family from molestation, he appointed Nero as heir jointly with his two daughters.

#15

The first target of the revolt was Camulodunum, an unwalled colony of Roman and Romanized Britons, where the recently settled veterans had been ejecting the inhabitants from their houses and driving them