In OLD WORLD, NEW WORLD Kathleen Burk sets out to tell the story of Britain & America across four hundred years, from colonisation to Iraq. There are two strands to this story. The first is the grand narrative that takes in the British colonisation of America & the American Revolutionary War, the American Civil War & the global conflicts of the twentieth century. This is the story of America's inevitable eclipse of its former colonial master as a Great Power, & of the enmities & sympathies, the confusions & understandings born along the way. The second strand is quieter but no less fascinating. Displaying a breathtaking command of her subject, Burk examines the relations between the two countries in many other spheres: economic, religious, cultural, social, even romantic. These two strands taken together make Old World, New World an unprecedented achievement. No one could hope to write the definitive story of these two countries & their relationship, but few will come closer than Kathleen Burk has in this brilliant book.