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The Story of England
The perfect introduction to England's past for readers of all ages, this book is also a unique work of popular history. Christopher Hibbert is a master storyteller. With vivid character sketches, telling details and well-chosen anecdotes he brings people and places to life, while the outline of great events remains clear. His remarkable narrative gift keeps the reader enthralled, from the first encounter with England's Neolithic inhabitants, through the entire course of the country's political, economic and cultural history, to an expression of faith in the qualities of the English today. The text is illuminated throughout by many colour illustrations, and the need for quick reference is met by maps, genealogies, fold-out chronological charts and a comprehensive index. Concise yet richly informative, this book presents a new style of history that will delight and educate all who read it.
310 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
29 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Hibbert
144 books311 followersChristopher Hibbert, MC, FRSL, FRGS (5 March 1924 - 21 December 2008) was an English writer, historian and biographer. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of many books, including Disraeli, Edward VII, George IV, The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici, and Cavaliers and Roundheads.
Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.
Described by Professor Sir John Plumb as "a writer of the highest ability and in the New Statesman as "a pearl of biographers," he established himself as a leading popular historian/biographer whose works reflected meticulous scholarship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
May 2, 2021
This was a quick and enjoyable read on English history. When I say quick, I mean really quick! It covered 5000 BC to the present day in just over 200 pages. The first half was better than the second half, which felt rather rushed, but it was still quite comprehensive. The writing style wasn’t exactly engaging. I can’t say that I really enjoyed this. The appendices at the end with all the family trees were perfect. I referred to them throughout.
October 26, 2018
What can I say? Its quite hard to write 'the story of England' in just 200 or so pages. I think Hibbert did a good job with selecting the bits and pieces of history that would fit in to that small margin of pages. However, it does - obviously - stay quite shallow and I don't think you will find anything new in this book if you've managed to remember any of your classes on English history. The book is absolutely beautifully illustrated by John Broadley, which does give the book a plus. It's not great, it's not life changing, but it's pretty okay. Would recommend if you like your illustrated books.
December 2, 2016
You need a basic knowledge of English history to read this because the book is a brief overview from 5000BC to present day. Sadly, a lot of details are left out. I.E. Bloody Mary during the Tudor period!! All in all it's still a fun, quirky book and the illustrations are great.
February 24, 2013
[Rating is probably closer to 3.5]
I am greatly interested in history and ancient cultures, but unfortunately it can be a hard topic to tackle in terms of good reading material. Such books tend to get too densely populated with dates and figures that I have trouble wrapping my head around the actual information. I'll give credit to Hibbert for compiling his book in a concise and readily understandable manner--it took only a few sittings for me to complete the book.
This was a good introductory book to England's history, one that gives you a taste of all the different eras without divulging too much beyond that so don't expect to learn a great amount of thorough details.
I was bothered by Hibbert's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, he didn't seem to get so agitated with any of the male monarchs and came across as a bit sexist. I certainly hope that isn't the case here, but it came across that way.
It was an interesting read, and I have more of an idea of which particular eras I'd like to research further. I'd be wary of him writing about either of those monarchs again though.
I am greatly interested in history and ancient cultures, but unfortunately it can be a hard topic to tackle in terms of good reading material. Such books tend to get too densely populated with dates and figures that I have trouble wrapping my head around the actual information. I'll give credit to Hibbert for compiling his book in a concise and readily understandable manner--it took only a few sittings for me to complete the book.
This was a good introductory book to England's history, one that gives you a taste of all the different eras without divulging too much beyond that so don't expect to learn a great amount of thorough details.
I was bothered by Hibbert's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, he didn't seem to get so agitated with any of the male monarchs and came across as a bit sexist. I certainly hope that isn't the case here, but it came across that way.
It was an interesting read, and I have more of an idea of which particular eras I'd like to research further. I'd be wary of him writing about either of those monarchs again though.
December 24, 2020
Given that this short book covers 7,000 years of history, it is necessarily pretty shallow. But take it as an introduction to the subject. My reason for reading it was to better understand British royalty, and the book provided a very good outline of the subject, including a handy chart and timeline.
April 28, 2022
This is a readable encyclopedia article overview in book form with many tiny photos. I read it to remind myself of the Roman/Ango-Saxon/Norman/Plantagenet timeline (which I will forget again in a few months) and it did the job.
March 19, 2023
Easy read. Just disappointed there's no mention of the last 2 monarchs, George VI and Elizabeth II, although the book goes up to 1990 and the last monarch futures on the cover of the book. Twice!
January 30, 2018
The Illustrated Story of England is an extremely dense overview of the basics of English history, at least from the perspective of elites in English history. To say it is "illustrated" is a bit of a stretch, there are illustrations, but not really enough to devote the title to advertising the illustrations. At the expense of being simple-minded, the book would have been vastly improved with more illustrations. I would challenge anyone with artistic ability to consider making a graphic novelization of some of England's legends and historical events.
Anyway, onto the book. It attempts to cover approximately 10,000 years of English history in less than 250 pages. Certainly, a better strategy would have been to condense the first 8,000 years or so (Neolithic times through the end of the Roman era give or take a few centuries) to when England first defined itself as England and provided more detail on those events and the monarchy. As it is written, it roughly marches along in a linear way from start to finish, but reading it feels as though English history is an anvil and Hibbert is a cartoon villain attempting to drop the anvil on your head, thus filling you with as many names, acts, and events as possible in the most condensed, fast way possible. Needless to say, I found myself rereading sections.
I did not become overly critical of the book until it glossed over Colonialism and England's role in shaping many twentieth-century geopolitical problems. For example, the Iranians did not just suddenly decide they were angry with the west in 1979. That was the result of a long, drawn-out post-colonial process over the possession of oil resources. I am curious to read more about Hibbert's poor opinion of Queen Elizabeth I, to whom he claims gets undeserved kudos from posterity. The final chapter on the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century was poorly organized and reflected more about the author's political leanings than actually providing useful information. The book also somewhat skirted World War 2, which clearly is perhaps one of the most significant events in recent history. Further, the masses, or the people of England, are also barely mentioned throughout, as though they were just kind of there while Cromwell and Charles I vied for control of the government.
I suppose I am being too critical, but a condensed, single volume of English history may not have been the best strategy. The book suffers a bit from false advertising and too much cramming of information. It would have been better executed as a series of three to five, more heavily illustrated books, perhaps dividing into a "Prelude" including the Neolithic through Roman times and so on. As an expatriate, looking for the broad strokes, I would recommend with some reservations.
Anyway, onto the book. It attempts to cover approximately 10,000 years of English history in less than 250 pages. Certainly, a better strategy would have been to condense the first 8,000 years or so (Neolithic times through the end of the Roman era give or take a few centuries) to when England first defined itself as England and provided more detail on those events and the monarchy. As it is written, it roughly marches along in a linear way from start to finish, but reading it feels as though English history is an anvil and Hibbert is a cartoon villain attempting to drop the anvil on your head, thus filling you with as many names, acts, and events as possible in the most condensed, fast way possible. Needless to say, I found myself rereading sections.
I did not become overly critical of the book until it glossed over Colonialism and England's role in shaping many twentieth-century geopolitical problems. For example, the Iranians did not just suddenly decide they were angry with the west in 1979. That was the result of a long, drawn-out post-colonial process over the possession of oil resources. I am curious to read more about Hibbert's poor opinion of Queen Elizabeth I, to whom he claims gets undeserved kudos from posterity. The final chapter on the end of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century was poorly organized and reflected more about the author's political leanings than actually providing useful information. The book also somewhat skirted World War 2, which clearly is perhaps one of the most significant events in recent history. Further, the masses, or the people of England, are also barely mentioned throughout, as though they were just kind of there while Cromwell and Charles I vied for control of the government.
I suppose I am being too critical, but a condensed, single volume of English history may not have been the best strategy. The book suffers a bit from false advertising and too much cramming of information. It would have been better executed as a series of three to five, more heavily illustrated books, perhaps dividing into a "Prelude" including the Neolithic through Roman times and so on. As an expatriate, looking for the broad strokes, I would recommend with some reservations.
April 2, 2018
The Illustrated Story of England is a neat little book that takes you through from tribal Celtic times right up to Brexit and today. Let's be clear, stuffing 4000 years of history into a couple of hundred pages inevitably means that things get covered briefly. The Romans appear to pop in for a cup of tea, Charles I loses his head and that's the end of it, there's no time for swan songs here.
This book made me realise a few things. For one being a prince or princess isn't really all its cracked up to be. For many centuries being the offspring of a monarch was a pernicious state of affairs. It wasn't just Richard III who was prepared to kill for the throne. Other people who held an interest in seeing a certain person make their way to the top would be willing to wage war against or murder someone they didn't want to see crowned.
Then at the other echelon of society, life was spectacularly shitty for ordinary people for a very very long time. It was only in the nineteenth century that people started thinking more altruistically and situations began, very slowly, to improve for the lower classes, for child labourers, for slaves and for women.
For anyone that has an interest in learning about the history of this country, particularly with a focus on monarchs, this is a great opportunity to thrash your way through the list of kings and queens that have ruled these isles. So come and meet the ancestors of our queen, the good, the bad and the ones who put lead based white paint on their faces so that you most certainly would not call them "ugly".
This book made me realise a few things. For one being a prince or princess isn't really all its cracked up to be. For many centuries being the offspring of a monarch was a pernicious state of affairs. It wasn't just Richard III who was prepared to kill for the throne. Other people who held an interest in seeing a certain person make their way to the top would be willing to wage war against or murder someone they didn't want to see crowned.
Then at the other echelon of society, life was spectacularly shitty for ordinary people for a very very long time. It was only in the nineteenth century that people started thinking more altruistically and situations began, very slowly, to improve for the lower classes, for child labourers, for slaves and for women.
For anyone that has an interest in learning about the history of this country, particularly with a focus on monarchs, this is a great opportunity to thrash your way through the list of kings and queens that have ruled these isles. So come and meet the ancestors of our queen, the good, the bad and the ones who put lead based white paint on their faces so that you most certainly would not call them "ugly".
February 2, 2009
Good to have such a broad survey, but Hibbert makes some bizarre choices. Architecture, for example, while no doubt mentionable and relevant in a historical survey, seemed to occupy a good 15% of the book much of the time, while literature and the arts go relatively unnoticed. Sometimes becomes a spiderweb of time jumping for no good reason. Still, I learned something about the history of England, and also that Christopher Hibbert really, really hates Queen Elizabeth I and Victoria.
March 2, 2017
You definitely need a knowledge of British history to enjoy this book. The sentences can be long and convoluted. I persevered but didn't particularly enjoy it and I found I finished it only knowing marginally more about British history because it was so hard to digest all the information.
January 14, 2018
Good basic history of England, but lacks some pertinent detail. For instance I wanted to read more about the transition from monarchy to democracy, and this was basically glossed over. There were some great photos pertaining to each period, however.
August 22, 2018
So useful! I'm sure I'll forget the details, but having the 30,000-foot view of English history all in one place was great, and this was a manageable way to approach it all. Maybe I should have read it BEFORE vacation in the UK?
September 18, 2021
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.
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.
February 1, 2025
One has to view this by what it attempts - a quite broad yet, for all that, comprehensive recounting of the history of England. Almost two thousand years in not much over 200 pages, and about fifteen of those pages given to drawings. So the audience must be both those with little background in English history and those with a desire to know more. The writing is clear, the prose crisp and engaging, and the drawings have their own charm. Though it is written for adults, not youth, it would be appropriate for any teenage reader with a serious turn of mind. A fine introduction to that rich history.
May 9, 2023
Pues para mi asombro, lo he terminado bastante antes de lo que esperaba.
Me ha parecido una lectura muy entretenida, eso sí, si no se tiene mucha idea no es el mejor libro para empezar con historia de UK porque da cosas por sentado.
Las ilustraciones son muy bonitas y al fin y al cabo es de los mejores souvenirs que pude traerme de mi primera visita a Londres. ❤️🩹
Tras 300 páginas lo que más me ha impactado es saber que Elizabeth II hizo un sketch tirándose en paracaídas con James Bond en los Juegos Olímpicos de 2012, fíjate tú por donde.
Me ha parecido una lectura muy entretenida, eso sí, si no se tiene mucha idea no es el mejor libro para empezar con historia de UK porque da cosas por sentado.
Las ilustraciones son muy bonitas y al fin y al cabo es de los mejores souvenirs que pude traerme de mi primera visita a Londres. ❤️🩹
Tras 300 páginas lo que más me ha impactado es saber que Elizabeth II hizo un sketch tirándose en paracaídas con James Bond en los Juegos Olímpicos de 2012, fíjate tú por donde.
December 25, 2023
I recently read an excellent book called 'The Story of England'. It provides a comprehensive overview of England's history, from the Stone Age period to the 1990s, including detailed information on each calendar year and accompanied by pictures. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in English history or planning to visit England. It's a concise yet fascinating read that can also serve as a great introduction to further reading on this topic.
October 28, 2017
A nice historical synopsis of England. A lot of things I didn't know and some I didn't care to know. It read like a textbook for large swaths and then the last 50 years got a couple pages at the end. Queen Elizabeth II was not even mentioned in the text nor is her Father George VI. A useful book that left me wanting more.
June 23, 2020
En este libro se comprime toda la historia de Reino Unido (fijándose más en la de Inglaterra) lo que da una buena idea general y un poco por encima de la historia del país. No es un buen libro para estudiar historia pero sí para hacerse una idea general.
January 17, 2017
Hibbert wrote his sentences a little too long in this book. This book was pretty good history-wise. This book had all the dates for the facts that were written.
February 1, 2024
An excellent, if brief, overview of English history. Well-illustrated. The kind of thing that Phaidon Press does so well.
September 11, 2025
3.5 — been in the worst reading slump ever and decided to commit to reading this at the airport?? confused by my own decisions but honestly I liked it
October 21, 2019
A useful little survey of English history and politics, concise, but covering the monarchy fairly well, with a stress on the eventual transfer of power to Parliament, and then to the Commons, when the figure of the prime minister becomes forceful. The author is respectfully impartial about the various political and religious movements that have divided the nation, although he does speed past everything so quickly that this may not have been too difficult. The illustrations are delightfully medievalist and frequent enough to take away the monotony of the prose. Recommended for a quick overview of English history. There are useful royal genealogies and succession lines and a comprehensive list of prime ministers.
November 18, 2012
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.
But overall, if you just want a brief synopsis of Most Things English History, then this is your book.
January 17, 2017
With "The Story of England" Hibbert presents a poorly written superficial synopsis of British History.
I read this book aloud to my son. The sentences are so long as to be almost comical, often jammed with lists of contemporary art pieces, artists, authors, places, and more.
This is a good book if you plan to tour England, but it is a difficult read for a short synopsis of British history.
I read this book aloud to my son. The sentences are so long as to be almost comical, often jammed with lists of contemporary art pieces, artists, authors, places, and more.
This is a good book if you plan to tour England, but it is a difficult read for a short synopsis of British history.
January 2, 2020
While I thought this book gave a nice overall view of English history I couldn’t move past the obvious sexism of the writer. Every female figures mentioned was either dramatic, unable to rule, or bossy. For all of the male prime ministers listed he referred to them as Prime Minister ..., but continually called Margret Thatcher, Mrs. While I understand this book was originally written in the 20th century I feel the publisher could have updated this in the new release.
October 13, 2010
A VERY concise history of England. This book helps you map a timeline of all the little tidbits you have accumulated (esp. if you are American). Rarely goes into detail on anything. Some information is only alluded to. Suggested to use in conjunction with Wikipedia. Still, a great way to put all the pieces together.
December 10, 2020
Being a mad dash from 5,000 BCE to Brexit, it's at a pace where names, dates, murders, betrayals, and even wars only get a passing mention. I love the illustrations. You almost have to have a familiarity with England, its geography, and its history before coming to the book to get much understanding or relevance out of it.
June 11, 2009
Quite awesomely tells the WHOLE story of England from pre-historic to just about present. And even though its "almost" in text book form, you don't even notice with the way the author weaves in and out of decades seamlessly.
March 15, 2011
This is no boring history book! Hibbert weaves the tale of England beautifully, keeping me hooked the whole way through. If you like history, you'll love this book! Of course it's incredibly biased, but all of the best stories are. And he truly emphasizes the "story" in "history".
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews