Foundation

The author writes on page 424 of my copy “The coffin was later used as a horse trough, and the bones of Richard III scattered.” Well that turned out to be a bit of bad luck in terms of writing the subjective as historical fact.

Like all these historical overviews one always learns something new. I had never heard of the Gough Map for example. But that hardly makes up for a poorish book. I am disappointed as this should have been a very useful historical overview of England from the dawns of time up to the beginning of the Tudor dynasty, one that could be recommended to the newcomer, maybe the high school reader looking for something to bolster their knowledge. Sadly for me there was far to much speculation and with that unsubstantiated comment. No footnotes. If one is to speculate and make comment back it up with footnotes. The bibliography is interesting enough, though it seems to me the author has used too many sources that are a bit too far into the past considering the plethora of specialist historians at present churning out tomes about specifics.

I will read out the entire serious and hope they improve.

Easy to read, interesting overview of a long swath of English history, from how villages were laid out in the same areas as the Romans had lived and the Picts/Anglo Saxons before them, how churches are often in the same areas held sacred for hundreds or thousands of years, and a summary of each of the kings since William the Conqueror up to the beginning of the Tudor reign.