I Never Knew That About England

by Christopher Winn

This glorious miscellany of good stories and fascinating facts about England, is the ultimate journey around the country, and includes history, legends, firsts, supremes, unusuals, inventions, birthplaces and gossip from each county.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, History, Reference, British Literature, Trivia

278 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great little read, a book that should be on every historical researchers shelf. It has been a long time since a book of this kind as been released. Looking forward to reading the others.

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I described this once while reading as "not great literature or great scholarship, but entertaining" and that is probably the best description I have given of it. It's one of those books where I am often wary of the actual legitimacy of the stories. But I also underlined and marked a number of things--probably it will serve me most as a collection of old churches and lesser-known architecture that I will hopefully get to hunt down some day.

[Will Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently researched and full of insightful and otherwise obscure facts and stories, Christopher Winn’s book ensures that wherever you go in England, you have a sense of the history and character of the area. The book makes the interesting decision to focus on the historic counties of England - eschewing the modern metropolitan counties such as London, Tyne and Wear and Merseyside - instead resurrecting now-defunct polities such as Huntingdonshire, Westmorland and Middlesex. Delightful illustrations abound to introduce the chapters and bring to life the anecdotes and monuments of the book (with the cathedrals particularly amazing). A firm introduction to the counties of England, and I’m tempted to pair it with its sister-guides on Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The county nicknames and relevant poetry to introduce each of them is an inspired touch.

[Philip William · Rating 3 out of 5]

A number of interesting facts about each historic county of England.

Nice pictures and nicely set out and it does better as a gift than as a purchase for your self. The author gives the appearance of scrambling around for things to say and in general I suggest googling the place you are going to rather than reading this book.

[Chas Bayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A properly entertaining ramble through England - perfect for fact nerds like me. I'm guessing (and hoping) that London, Scotland, Wales etc have all been given the 'I never knew that' treatment. Fabulous.

[Courtney Fong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drinking from a water hose but make it fun facts about English counties. I thought that many of the stories were fun (and it did make me want to visit England) but I’d say about 80% of the fun facts were pretty boring to me haha

[Guy Sandison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant enough book to dip in and out of. Some of the stories feel repetitious and does at times become a bit ‘little England,’ but there are also some interesting insights.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things in this book made me go “huh”. Really interesting look at England’s counties.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now to visit these places!

[Richard Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, again as said so many amazing facts.

[Kevin de Ataíde]

Trivia book, with lots of historical facts that you probably didn't know and probably don't need to know. In its quest to find as many firsts, bests, mosts and greatests, (it is intended to facilitate the preparation of quizzes, apparently) the book sometimes strays from objectivity; it's easy to wonder if anything can be invented or in some way improved an excelled outside of England. I can find particular exaggerations in some items of scientific and religious history, but they won't go into this tiny review.



There's more than a little sentimentalism in this book. With its desire to contain all of England, in a county-by-county scheme meant again to aid quizmasters, it is quite a tribute to English pride. You could go to Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire and sit under a 'descendant of t hat apple tree' that Newton himself sat under, in the orchard where 'the modern world began and science was conceived.' You could follow the story of Henry Royce who wanted to create the bestest car in the world. You could, in one of the brief moments of humour, learn about Walter Arnold, first in 1896 to be convicted of speeding in an automobile, which had to be caught by a selfless constable, who abandoned his dinner to chase after the 2mph car on his bike over 5 miles.



Yes, there's enough pride here to fly a balloon for the first time over Britain, from London S. James to Standon in Herfordshire in 1784. But you'd be Italian, then, and your name would be Vincenzo Lunardi.

[Jess Neuner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was torn between shelving this book as travel and as non-fiction. It takes you round England, county by county, but contains more factual trivia about each location than any practical travel information or any kind of travel narrative. So, non-fiction it is. You could use it as a travel book if you wanted, but really only to read more in-depth about a specific location you were already going to. Reading it all at once, it definitely reads more like historical trivia.

I love both history and trivia, so I rather enjoyed this book. I learnt a lot about lesser-known areas of England and many of those facts may be useful at pub quizzes. Reading it all at once, the sheer number of trivia titbits can be a bit overwhelming and it could be easier to remember them all if it's read one county at a time, to let the information sink in a bit before moving on.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book, hoping for something witty and humorous, as well as historical and factual. Unfortunately, I was sadly mistaken. Whilst it was incredibly factual, and I learnt a great deal about England, the writing was very dull, and presented in a very boring fashion.

I read it through, because parts of it were pretty interesting, but it was extremely difficult to get into, and I'm definitely far from impressed.

[Laura Eydmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, although it was a bit much reading the entire book from cover to cover. It would have been a lot better to dip into. Obviously, reading about the places I have lived or been to were more interesting, but there were some really interesting facts and stories from every county. The little illustrations were absolutely beautiful, I loved them! A perfect coffee table book, and definitely one for any pub quiz enthusiasts!

[Booklovers Melbourne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also reviewed at http://bookloversmelbourne.blogspot.c...

With 277 pages of titbits and trivia from the thirty nine counties of England, from the only cathedral in the country to have three spires, to where the Badminton horse trials were 'invented', this great book can be dipped into hundreds of times without finding oneself bored. a veritable compendium of facts and anecdotes

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put this book in my loo!! Not a comment on its readability its a dip in fact book full of little known trivia about the counties of England I love it, and constantly find little surprises for pub quizes etc.

[Grace C · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book contains mostly of less-prominent England sites, but they're not really THAT interesting. A good read if you are to travel vastly in England, but not so much if you're into its history.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and intersting little facts

[G. Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wouldn't have said it was fascinating, as the cover said, but definitely interesting... A collection of facts and stories about counties and towns.

[Tristan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collection of anecdotes and facts about England. An episodic read, hence it has taken almost eighteen months to get through it. Some bits were interesting, some mundane.

[Angela Reeves · Rating 1 out of 5]

dull

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the song says - "There'll always be an England, While there's a country lane, Wherever there's a cottage small, Beside a field of grain." How I would love to travel these country lanes with this little book tucked under my arm. Who could possibly know all this about England and the English, apart from Christopher Winn! This book is a delightful potpourri of sorts that are - the oldest, the longest surviving, the only known, the first of, the most valuable or the biggest in either Britain and even occasionally the World. I thoroughly enjoyed reading my way through this alphabetical of England's counties, discovering the source of much that is hearsay, folklore and legend. I discovered the origin of many of today's sayings and read about an untold number of historic sites. I knew England was old, however, I was astonished to find so many buildings, pubs, churches, inventions and relics surviving today that are - still in use, have been in continuous use, are still owned by the same family or amazingly, just still standing, some, since before the Roman Times. It's an easy book to pick up and put down although I enjoyed reading it slowly, straight through. I shall be looking out for other, similar titles by the same author.