A brilliant exercise in conciseness. The full history of England in less than 200 pages, including lots of illustrations. A very traditional history of monarchs and politicians but the author gets it all in. If you were revising for an appearance on University Challenge this would be in the reading list. ( )

I really enjoyed this. It's really a grown up version of H.E. Marshall's, Our Island Story, which I've read with my children many times over the years.

Funniest bit: imagining not one but TWO kings being reported in history as having rolled around chomping on the straw floor in a rage. Bit spoilt?

Biggest disagreement: Page 115 states "Bloody" Mary wasn't actually cruel by nature: "Obstinate and narrow-minded, she knew her way to God and could not conceive that there might be some other way. Men and women had to suffer for their refusal to accept it, not to be punished but to be saved." Sounds like Mary's been reading the Koran.

Biggest annoyance: I'm not sure what happened with the end of this book---maybe they got sick of editing? Chapter 10 reads like a completely different author---run on sentences a paragraph long! Very distracting...but it soon goes back to normal, only to pick it up again in the last few pages of ch. 11. How weird?

Most Thought-Provoking Bit: "'It was only yesterday,' exclaims one of Thackeray's characters, 'but what a gulf between now and then. Then was the old world. Stage-coaches, more or less swift riding horses, packhorses, highwaymen... But your railroad starts a new era... We who lived before railways and survive out of the ancient world, are like Father Noah and his family out of the Ark.'" Funny---this is the same sentiment I have about being part of the partial generation that is old enough to have grown up without Internet but is young enough to have it play a significant part of our career and daily life.

I'll hold on to this as I'm sure I'll be wanting to read it again in 8-10 years or so. ( )

The Story Of England is a wonderful, considering history of England from prehistoric periods to present day. The topics covered range from changes in the monarchy and political strife through the centuries, religion and how it coincided with these changes, labor disputes, women’s rights and many other topics that have affected the country. This book was a great way to get an overview of the colorful history of England. ( )

Nice little book, a brisk over-view of English history, complete with lots of illustrations and handy maps and geneological charts. Everything is just barely touched upon, but a good bibliography is given at the end for those who wish to read further upon the subject. I enjoyed it despite its brevity, but while this little book was well-made and beautifully put together, it had shiny pages that made it a bit diffcult to read - light kept shining off the pages a bit too much and that bothered me.

But overall, if you just want a brief synopsis of Most Things English History, then this is your book. ( )

Nice little book, a brisk over-view of English history, complete with lots of illustrations and handy maps and geneological charts. Everything is just barely touched upon, but a good bibliography is given at the end for those who wish to read further upon the subject. I enjoyed it despite its brevity, but while this little book was well-made and beautifully put together, it had shiny pages that made it a bit diffcult to read - light kept shining off the pages a bit too much and that bothered me.

But overall, if you just want a brief synopsis of Most Things English History, then this is your book. ( )