From Grand Duchy to a Modern State: A Political History of Finland since 1809 Book

[Well, it is not as if there are minutely exact parallels, but rough parallels are all over the place. Martin takes events from across English history and sticks them together to serve his plot. A murder-by-pushing from Elizabeth’s time might be stringed together with an usurper’s story from early 12th Century, and so on. So it is not that you will completely ruin your viewing/reading pleasure (btw, since interesting things to read far outstrips good TV material, it might be a better strategy to just go with the series and avoid the books, esp since it is more or less certain that Martin is not going to be able to finish the series), it is just that the overall thrust of the series becomes much more predictable, and you start to get a sense of who has to die and when the next generation has to take over, etc.

It is subtle, but knowing too much history is injurious to GoT fandom.

About Schama’s own work, it is an exceptional piece of writing and Schama takes great pains to make the history as readable and personal as possible. Often you might be doubting if you are reading an historical account or a racy piece of fiction, that is how packed with personal vignettes this book is. But in this process of constructing a narrative, and avoiding the usual dry tone of historical texts, Schama has to also sacrifice the mention of dates - long sections of the book go by without allowing the reader to place the events in a chronological context. This is disorienting, especially for the reader who is in it not just for the entertainment. I often found myself rudely surprised to find that a century has elapsed in the midst of some court intrigue, and was even more often stunned to suddenly be thrust into the midst of familiar (read famous) events without any warning.

However, it has to be accepted that this was probably a necessary trade-off that Schama had to make to write this book the way he has. It is fun to read and even with all the wealth of detail never loses the pace. I just wish someone would be able to reach a better synthesis between story-telling and historical progression. (hide spoiler)]