A history of the British people told through portraits, tying in to a major five-part BBC TV series and an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. From the divine paintings of Elizabeth I to the iconic photograph of 'bulldog' Churchill; from Victorian portraits of dead children to Hockney's of his elderly parents; from anonymous workers to the artists themselves, Simon Schama uses a stunning and surprising array of images to tell the story of the British from the Tudors to the present day, changing the way we see Britain and each other.