This book was written in the 1950s by the FE Haliday, a literary scholar and historian of Cornwall. Is is, I believe, one of only two complete histories of Cornwall, the other by Philip Peyton. The work is a good narrative account of the history of Cornwall from the Stone Age up to the 20th Century, although the latter is rather a short summary. Time periods are traditionally divided, and a chapter is allocated to each. FE Halliday's son, Sebastian Halliday, has added an epilogue summarising the state of Cornwall about the year 2000.
The book makes a somewhat unpromising start, with the rather twee assertion that Neanderthal man was "an unattractive-looking creature, shaggy, shuffling and ape-like" whilst Cro-Magnon man was "a splendid example of humanity, both physically and mentally". This being on the first page was not the best of starts. However, things quickly improve, and is probably a reflection of views at the time of writing. I also felt the author was possibly slighlty biased in the brief discussions of Reformation in the Tudors chapter. However, this is not a major problem.
A particularly interesting thread that runs through the book is the development of tin (and coppper) mining in the county, from the Classical period to its final end in the 1990s. Hence this book will be of much interest to mining historians and others.
Overall, I would commend this book to anyone who wishes to delve into the history and culture of Cornwall, and go beyond the somewhat superficial view often presented elsewhere.