I wish I were eloquent enough to adequately praise this book, but I'm not so I'll have to stumble through its attributes in my own prosaic way.
First off, the beginning of the book bogged down a bit for me, as it went far back into the Stone Age. It was interesting, but that period of history is not wholly in my realm of interest, as so much of that history is speculation as there were no written records of any kind. Once I got through that and began reading about the earliest "recorded" history of England, I was hooked.
What I most enjoyed about this book was the reading style. It was not academically-slanted, but it truly seemed to be aimed at the general populace. I remember so many college history classes in which battles were laboriously described. The worst ones were the battles that went on for weeks, as then we'd have to read of how each army was lined up, where their flanks were arranged, who rode in first, where the first man fell, day after day, etc. That stuff is not what intrigues me. I prefer reading about the life of the people... not the battles of its armies. Ackroyd had a lot of battles to cover, as any history of a nation is really built upon battles and land seizures and cessions, but Ackroyd mercifully handled them in a nutshell.... sort of like "9,000 men met 6,000 men... they came, they saw, they conquered." Or, they lost. So, we knew who the major players were in these confrontations, and where they took place, but we were spared the minutia of every detail.
As Ackroyd progresses through the centuries, he not only adequately describes each new monarch and his court, but he also brings in collateral English history. For example, he talked about drastic climate changes as they occurred in the first 5 centuries BC and also during the 11th and 12th centuries AD and how these changes affected not only the economy of England, but it's people as well, and how times of exceptionally poor harvests raised the body count and ushered in epidemic diseases and crime rates.
Reading this book has confirmed by previous opinion that the entire history of Man is simply one of seizure and abuse. Throughout all history, and quite evident between these pages, 99% of the people in this world have been considered expendable and simply a means to an end by the 1% ruling elite. Whether that ruling elite was simply an early man who gathered others about him to pillage a near-by village, kill its inhabitants and take over the land in order to increase his own holdings and stature, or the leaders of today's nations who ignore their poor and hungry because all that matters is their self-aggrandizement and personal luxury, mankind's entire history has been formed by one group warring against another in order to satisfy some personal lust.
To summarize this book, I would say that it is an easy-to read tome, full of information not only about the kinds of England, but also about some of the daily life. What toys children had, what games men played, what foods they ate, what jokes they played on each other, and so much more. It's not a "dry" history. But history is certainly covered! After reading it I felt that the entire system of "monarchy" in England was (and is), simply a crock. These rulers simply never cared about the welfare of anyone other than themselves. They wanted power, riches, fame. They considered the unlanded serfs and slaves so beneath their dignity as to not be worthy of a thought. These kings felt they "deserved" to rule by some incredible gift of divine right. They murdered, they connived, they deprived anyone at all of their land and welfare in order to promote their own personal sense of worth. Honestly, after finishing the book, it simply boggled my mind that the English put up with it at all, much less to the present!
If you like history but don't want an academic book that might be required reading on your way to becoming a PhD in history, then you'll love this book. If you've heard of the Plague, the houses of York and Lancaster, the Hundred Years War, the War of the Roses, the Plantagenets, the Hanoverians, Angevins, Normandy, or the Tudors, then you'll find those topics adequately covered. I am looking forward to reading the further volumes in this series!
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Reviews with images
A very satisfying read.
I really love this book. It is so interesting in so many ways. I've learned where certain words and rituals come from as well as what really went on in early English history. I love reading it on my Kindle because I can instantly look up words I've never seen before. (There are a lot of them) It is taking me a long time to read this because it is packed with facts and stories but I've already bought the next two books because I know I'm going to love them too. If you like history and like to have interesting stories to tell this is the book for you.
Top reviews from other countries
Laura Lee Reid
England’s blood, gore, triumphs so well defined by the masterful pen of Mr Ackroyd.
Reviewed in Canada on August 27, 2019
