Amazon.co.uk: Britannia: 100 Great Stories from British History: Geraldine McCaughrean, Richard Brassey: Books

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Product Description

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

Book Description
A magnificent introduction to Britain's history through stories.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN PEOPLE FIRMLY BELIEVED THAT A FEW YEARS EARLIER - in, say, their great-grandfather's time - dragons and giants roamed the neighbourhood. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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(8 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

A bright and fascinating book which sneaks history into children, 13 Feb 2007

By	ELH Browning "Esther-Lou" (Kingston Bagpuize, Oxon) - See all my reviews

Wow! This is the book that I wish I'd had as a child. I was never taught history in a sensible sequence, unfortunately, so I didn't built a chronology of events in my head. The result is a hopeless historian.
I am determined therefore to try and give my own children a decent internal time-line and this book is a perfect start (especially paired with Tony Robinsons' chronological `Kings and Queens'). It contains a vast range of short stories from King Leir 800BC through to the present day: King Arthur, King Alfred, The Fire of London, Glencoe, The Titanic, Votes for Women, Dunkirk, etc. Each is told as a tale from history with the more concrete facts briefly boxed to one side.
What's great about this book is that it isn't a turgid historical reference book - it presents the past with real human interest. Many of the earliest stories, McCaughrean notes, are more legend than truth but this folklore is part of our historical legacy. Other stories bring the era to life or cover an incident that gives a flavour of the history of the time. For example, the moving story of the 1914 Christmas Allies v Germany football match makes an appearance as does the tale of Eyam, the village who cordoned itself off to prevent the plague spreading to their neighbouring villages.
Each well-written story is only 3 or 4 pages long with plenty of text and wide-ranging stretching vocabulary. Every single page has a couple of attractive and colourful pictures giving book a very appealing feel. It's an absolute corker which I've just bought for my six-year old daughter. [...]

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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent for both kids and adults, 5 Oct 2005

By	Pen name "wellskypeme" (Wales, UK.) - See all my reviews

This is always my first choice book a bedtime story for my 5 year old, if not always hers!
I have learned more than I would care to admit from reading these childrens orientated legends, each with a note on how the story originated.
A lovely book full of facsinating tales from our history. Thorougly recommended; by a dad anyway.....

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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

We read this every night, 1 Mar 2006

By	acetabulum - See all my reviews

My son has just turned four and he loves this book. I really like it too. He insists that we read a story or two from it almost every night. What I really like is that these stories provoke lots of thinking and questioning on his part. And some of his questioning has led me to have to go off and find out more about the story in question.

People are astonished when they come round our house and he's re-enacting the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk, or the battle of Agincourt.

The stories are very well written, not too long and with a nice vocabulary. The pictures are great. It would make a great birthday present that will last a long time.

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Most Recent 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... Read more

Published 4 months ago by A. Hollingdrake

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... Read more

Published 10 months ago by V. Spalding

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. Read more

Published 11 months ago by S. Broad

Nice Stories, Wrong Age Group
I bought this to read to a 5 year old - it was in the key-stage-1 section. I should have taken notice of the reviewers who said things like "I love to read my children these... Read more

Published on 13 Mar 2006

A must-have for *everyone* - young or old!
This is a sumptuous book filled with fantastic tales and wonderful pictures. You will enjoy reading it to your children - if they let you! Read more

Published on 7 Feb 2000

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