8.2/1032 votes#1 - The British Wars (1603 - 1649)
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 5/8/2001
The turbulent civil wars of the early seventeenth century would culminate in two events unique to British history; the public execution of a king and the creation of a republic. Schama tells of the brutal war that tore the country in half and created a new Britain - divided by politics and religion and dominated by the first truly modern army, fighting for ideology, not individual leaders.
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7.9/1034 votes#2 - Revolutions (1649 - 1689)
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 5/15/2001
In the aftermath of Civil War, Britain was a kingless republic led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell ruled with an iron hand; when Parliament dared defy him, he marched in and closed it down. He ruled as king in all but name, with his Major Generals imposing Godly Puritan rule on the counties. The anarchy that prevailed at his death led to the Restoration of Charles II, who survived the Great Fire and a dynastic crisis triggered by anti-Catholic paranoia. James II's Catholic fervour threatened to trigger another revolution; he was deposed by the troops of the Dutch King William.
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8.0/1033 votes#3 - Britannia Incorporated (1690 - 1750)
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 5/22/2001
In 1690s England, the victors of the Glorious Revolution celebrated the dawn of a new era under a new king - William III. In Scotland, the Jacobites still supported the deposed King James II and the country suffered crippling poverty and famine.Relations between Scotland and England were tainted by the Glencoe Massacre in 1692 and Westminster's strategy to scupper the Darien venture. Half a century later, however, the two countries were forging a partnership, based on profit and interest, which evolved into the Act of Union in 1707.
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7.9/1032 votes#4 - The Wrong Empire (1750 - 1800)
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 5/29/2001
How did a people who thought themselves free end up subjugating so much of the world, a nation with such a distrust of armies become the greatest military power on Earth, an empire of the free become an empire of slaves?Britons took the flag across the globe and created an empire built on ambition and slavery, exploration and daring. Trade flourished in the addictive commodities of tea, sugar and coffee, as did the deplorable trade in people. Taxation lost Britain the American colonies, but paved the way for dominance in India, as tax gatherers became administrators and merchants, emperors. The Wrong Empire is the exhilarating and terrible story of how one small group of islands came to dominate the world; a story of exploration and daring, but also one of exploitation and conflict.
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The Best Episodes of A History of Britain Season 2
Every episode of A History of Britain Season 2 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of A History of Britain Season 2!
Stretching from the Stone Age to the year 2000, Simon Schama's Complete History of Britain does not pretend to be a definitive chronicle of the...
Genre:Documentary
Network:BBC Two
Season 2 Ratings Summary
"The British Wars (1603 - 1649)" is the best rated episode of "A History of Britain" season 2. It scored 8.2/10 based on 32 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 5/8/2001. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Revolutions (1649 - 1689)".