Reddit reviews The Isles: A History

I like The Isles: A History by Norman Davis as it puts it in context with our neighbours and further, puts that in context with Europe.

It it ain't too specific A History of Ulster is very good.

The Irish by Sean O' Faolin is pretty darn interesting. Not so much a typical history as a racial/psycological/ sociological history. More concerned with ideas than specific events.

Another great Sean O' Faolin one that I'm very fond of is The Great O'Neill.

You might be able to tell I'm a little biased to events in Ulaidh!

Norman Davies is basically the better version of Jared Diamond. He's an actual historian, and does a good job of balancing depth with accessibility.

I really recommend both Europe: A History and The Isles: A History. They are both quite dense tomes, but Davies does a really great job of creating a narrative of the entirety of European/British history (from prehistory to modern times) while challenging our biases and subconscious notions. Instead of a tedious listing of events over 10000 years, he uses narratives and environmental/geographical analysis, interspersed with 'windows' where he goes into several key events in detail.

This is what you want, an outstanding book that covers Irish and British history. Read this, and you'll be above the herd.

https://www.amazon.com/Isles-History-Norman-Davies/dp/0195148312

What do you mean by this question? If you are referring to their historical importance and/or adoption, I can give a bit of guidance.

1. Britain - a derivation of the word Breton, the name of the culture group in modern NW France ('Brittany'). Also tied to the Roman provincial title for their empire in the Isles, Brittania.
   
2. Great Britain - officially, this title was given to the union of Scotland and England (also Wales) in 1707. 'Great' simply refers to the union of multiple cultures under one monarchy.
   
3. England - derivation of the word 'Angle,' the name of the Germanic tribe from the modern N Germany/S Denmark region. 'Angle-land' became England in the early middle ages once the Germanic invaders culturally mixed with the pre-existing cultures of the Isles.
   
4. Scotland - not sure on this one; educated guess is simply the Anglicization of the word Scotia, the Latin name of the tribes that existed in this region.
   
5. Wales - same situation as Scotland.
   
6. Ireland - 'Eire' became Ireland due to...you guessed it...Anglicization.
   
7. N. Ireland - Same as Ireland, though officially this term did not exist until the 1920s. Unofficially, you could say that N. Ireland, due to its substantial Protestant minority, was culturally distinct from the rest of Ireland.
   
8. Official title of the 1801 Act of Union between England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
   
9. Same, except after 1920s.
   
   There's a theme here, if you didn't pick up on it. All of these terms are a byproduct of the Anglicization of either Latin, Celtic or Germanic words, the majority of which came into existence during the early middle ages. For more on this, see Norman Davies's work The Isles: A History