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: #6332 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-19
• Format: Illustrated
• 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.

Synopsis
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.

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.

Customer Reviews

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

History Lessons for 30 yr olds, let alone kids!
The illustrations in this book are splendid, and for the mostpart it covers intriguing areas of British history that your average Joe, nor I, would know much about. There is one review here that discounts the book's historical accuracy on the basis that the author of Gulliver's Travels was Jonathan Swift, not Dean Swift. May I point out however, that Dean was the writer's title, not his name: from 1713 to 1742 Swift was the dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. I can't vouch for the whole book, but on this point alone, the book is watertight - and heck, even if it isn't, I'm enjoying reading it anyway. And who's going to mind if my knowledge of 5th century AD history is a bit shaky? At worst, it could mean losing a pub quiz!