Product Description

King Canute, Lady Godiva, Guy Fawkes, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Grace Darling and other famous names from 3000 years of history live again in these 100 tragic, comic, stirring tales of adventure, folly and wickedness. These stories, many of them virtually forgotten, are Britain's heritage, told and illustrated with such verve and colour that they are the perfect way to give present-day children a sense of the excitement of history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36814 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-19
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 264 pages

Birmingham Post, October 9, 2004
One of the best historial books for children…If this doesn't get youngsters into history, little will.

From the Author
And if you want to ACT any of the stories in Britannia, there are play scripts of 25 of the stories - in fact everything you need to prepare a play - in BRITANNIA ON STAGE also published by Orion.

About the Author
Richard Brassey is the author and illustrator of a host of colourful and original non-fiction books for children, among them the bestselling Nessie the Loch Ness Monster and The Story of Scotland, which won the TES/Saltire Society Award. He lives in Essex. Geraldine McCaughrean's novels and retellings for children have won her the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, the Whitbread Award and the Beefeater Award. A prolific author who writes for all ages, she lives in Berkshire with her husband and daughter, Ailsa. Richard Brassey writes and illustrates his own books on history and is currently working on 'The Story of London'.

Customer Reviews

Very good book, but challenging reading
The stories are well-told, the illustrations fit the stories well, and there is some background information provided about the stories.

One thing that I wasn't prepared for is that the language, vocabulary, and background knowledge required to fully understand the stories is way beyond a child's and perhaps beyond even an uneducated adult's. So, when I read these stories to my children, after I read a small part to them, I then provide relevant background information and an explanatory paraphrasing of the paragraph in terms that they can understand, before moving on. This is okay, but it's worth noting if you were expecting to give this book to a child and expect them to understand it all by themselves.

Edward Gibbon it's not (Thankfully!)
I can sympathise with 'A Customer' who found the book unsuitable for her/his child. However, as I'm sure the majority of parents & we doddering grandparents will agree, the idea is not simply to sling a weighty tome at your nascent genius but to spend time reading with them. This volume is perfect for such a purpose, I sneak a look every now and then just for my own enjoyment.

Entertaining and diverse
I bought this for my daughter, then aged 8, since then she has read it over and over. I can see why, the stories are really fascinating and well illustrated and in manageable chunks for young readers. Together with Tony Robinson's Kings and Queens, this book has definitely started her on a passion for history and given her a mind boggling general knowledge. Recommended