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A Short History of England

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A Short History of England

By: Sir Simon Jenkins
Narrated by: Sir Simon Jenkins
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About this listen

From the invaders of the dark ages to the aftermath of the coalition, one of Britain's most respected journalists, Simon Jenkins, weaves together a strong narrative with all the most important and interesting dates in a book that characteristically is as stylish as it is authoritative.

A Short History of England sheds light on all the key individuals and events, bringing them together in an enlightening and engaging account of the country's birth, rise to global prominence and then partial eclipse. There have been long synoptic histories of England, but until now there has been no standard short work covering all significant events, themes and individuals.

Now updated to take in the rapid progress of recent events, this magisterial history will be the standard work for years to come.

©2012 Simon Jenkins (P)2022 Profile Books Ltd Europe Great Britain England Imperialism Middle ages Royalty Winston Churchill United Kingdom Tudor

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Enjoyed it thoroughly and kept getting my memory jogged from our longest history when Romans ruled us and forward to Vikings and Normans, all of which I could recall but in not too great a details as Mr Jenkins describes.
Great listening

Great reminder of who and what we are as a nation

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Really pleased to have a book like this which gives a good overall picture of English history. Well worth having someone else do all the hard work researching it for you and certainly no mean feat. The author isn't perhaps the best person to read it, but I use the option of 70% to slow him down which makes it a lot easier to listen.

Good to know

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Simon Jenkins has managed the difficult task of summarising the colourful, incident filled history of England sympathetically, comprehensively & entertainingly -the ups & downs, the triumphs & defeats, the particular eccentricities that characterise England & the English are all here - no mean feat

No mean feat

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This was so good and for the first time in my life I have understood how our whole history is connected! Definitely recommended…

Brilliant listen…

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if you don't know, or are uncertain of your grasp of our History, this is an excellent introduction to it.

An accurate overview of a complex subject.

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Not a bad attempt at a precis of England. In my view it didn't really work for me being too short on events prior to 1900 and conversely giving far too much emphasis for post 1945 events.

All encompassing.

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Well delivered, full of interesting information which gave enough to complete the story but also helped to signpost towards areas for deeper research by the listener.

A great intro to English Hostory

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I had to study this as a reading week in my uni course and having it as an audio book was a HUGE help. Given it’s an illustration course , studying this felt so random , so I’m grateful the book is so interning and well written. I’m shocked how much I enjoyed learning from this I’ll probably listen twice lol. The author is a great and clear narrator and it really helped me alot :)

Super helpful and interesting!

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I suppose it should have been obvious from the title what I was going to get, but you cannot have a short history of England and expect any depth whatsoever. Most of the book is just rambling lists of monarchs offering no insight whatsoever.

However by far the worst part, which left me speechless was about the author’s reference to the Irish famine. What he said was “Britain was concerned that it was about to suffer the effects of a famine. In Ireland 1,000,000 people emigrated.” When he should have said

“Britain was concerned that it was about to suffer the effects of a famine so they went to Ireland, stole all the food to bring over to England leading to a million un-necessary deaths and 1,000,000 people emigrated. The effects on the population are still being felt today.”

Additionally there is passing reference to jingoism, the east India company and no mention at all if the enthusiasm for the slave trade and its enablement.

He also cannot hide his political leanings towards the right and additionally there are mistakes in the editing of the read.

Like I said, I should have known but good grief, avoid this book.

Oh dear, but I should have known.

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