Great Tales from English History by Robert Lacey
Two Volumes of Significant People and Events from British History
Feb 19, 2008
Unlike many historical texts, volumes one and two of Robert Lacey’s Great Tales from English History are far from a dry collection of dates, names and events. His gifted storytelling style brings the characters and events alive and creates an excitement in the reader for the unfolding tales.
In his introduction to Volume 2, Lacey describes the narrative power of snapshots from history – Walter Raleigh laying down his cloak over a puddle, an apple falling and inspiring the theory for the Law of Gravity for Newton. These events are accepted as fact and known by many who could not provide more specific and verifiable details of the lives of these men. Lacey proposes that it is these snapshot events that capture the imagination and give the study of history its richness and attraction.
Lacey attempts to provide details behind the history, keeping to popular tales and events, but providing more substantial background information to support commonly held beliefs about famous figures and their actions. Chapters are only four to six pages in length, with each story linking to the next in some way.
Volume 1 – 7150BC to 1381 (Little Brown, 2003)
The first volume of tales commences with The Cheddar Man, the oldest complete skeleton found on the British Isles in Cheddar Gorge near Bristol.
There follow a several chapters on pre-Norman conquest figures such as Lady Godiva, King Canute (famous for trying to turn back the waves), Venerable Bede and Caedmon, the first English poet. He also touches on the legend of King Arthur and the false belief that Jesus Christ might have walked upon British soil.
In the years following the conquest in 1066AD, stories are told of Hereward the Wake, the Domesday Book, Henry and the Whiteship, the Magna Carta, the formation of the Order of the Garter and many tales of the British monarchy and their relationships and preoccupations.
This volume ends with stories of the Black Plague, the dream of Piers the Ploughman and the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381.
Volume 2 – 1387 to 1689 (Little Brown, 2004)
Opening with the story of Geoffrey Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales, Volume 2 of Great Tales from English History continues with tales of British Kings and Queens interspersed with the stories of Dick Whittington, Joan of Arc, William Tyndale and the British Bible, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake and Guy Fawkes.
There are simplified family trees provided for the Houses of York, Lancaster and Tudor and for England’s Tudor and Stuart monarchs. The stories of murder, scheming and betrayal amongst the members of the monarchy are fascinating reading.
References
Each book contains a detailed bibliography and sources to direct readers interested in further study. Many of the bibliography listings include website references. Each volume also contains a comprehensive index of basic maps of England relevant to the periods discussed.
Snapshots of British History
These books provide a wonderful overview of English history. They provide enough details to be informative, enough action to be entertaining, and the stories are brief enough to hold the attention and interest of the reader. More avid historians may find themselves longing for more details and consideration of the deeper political and social issues implicit in some of the tales, but these can be easily found elsewhere using the bibliography notes as a guide.
The purpose of these books is to inspire an interest in the colourful characters and tales that have formed the tapestry of English History, a purpose which they very successfully achieve.
