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English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable

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English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable

By: Lacey Baldwin Smith
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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About this listen

Here at last is a history of England that is designed to entertain as well as inform and that will delight the armchair traveler, the tourist, or just about anyone interested in history.

No people have engendered quite so much acclaim or earned so much censure as the English: extolled as the Athenians of modern times, yet hammered for their self-satisfaction and hypocrisy. But their history has been a spectacular one.

The guiding principle of this book's heretical approach is that "history is not everything that happened but what is worth remembering about the past". Thus its chapters deal mainly with "Memorable History" in blocks of time over the centuries. The final chapter, "The Royal Soap Opera", recounts the achievements, personalities, and idiocies of the royal family since the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066. English History will be a welcome and amusing tour of a land that has always fascinated Anglophiles and Anglophobes alike.

©2007 Lacey Baldwin Smith (P)2017 Audible, Inc. Europe Great Britain England Royalty Funny Witty Imperialism Middle Ages Winston Churchill Latin American United Kingdom War British Empire English Grammar
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I have been wanting a general overview of British history for some time now and this book sums it up very well.

Fantastic

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Interesting listen… I didn’t much of anything about the British monarchy cept for what we know now and a few of the popular names so it was good it listen to a few stories which has encouraged me to search for mire

Interesting

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Exactly what it says on the tin, but very informative and insightful into the fallacy that is Great Britain, the conceit that was the British empire and quite possibly, the ‘own goal’ that is Brexit.

Brilliantly Irreverent

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An enjoyable experience,subject matter well chosen,and I would be happy to have more of the same,

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It's OK, useful if you are new to English History, but lazy and incorrect myths like ' Medieval people didn't wash ' ( They did, because people don't like to stink, and don't like to be near people who stink) and omissions like Richard I ( the most overrated King, but central to the story of what England thinks it is.)

Ok, but some tired myths and odd omissions

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