A Traveller's History of England (Interlink Traveller's Histories)

Does a pretty good job of plowing through a vast amount of history in a relatively short number of pages. I did run into the issues several times where a name would be mentioned with minimal context. I would then flip back several pages (or until far enough back in time that they certainly weren't alive) to try and find where that person was introduced, but to no avail. Somewhat of an expected issue though, considering how condensed the book is.

Great brief history of the country! You get a quick run down of each monarch and the major historic accomplishments or downfalls of the time. I recommend this as a good background research book for general English history. But don't think it's a tour book, that just ridiculous.

It was a gift

Quick read, but expansive in coverage

I am not one to post recommendations but I really enjoyed this book very much and if you are thinking about getting it, got for it, it worth ever cent.I have been traveling to London past several years for leisure and recently for business. Outside of the standard travel guides such as Lonely Planet Europe and UK, Unofficial Guide to London and such, I have not delved further. All the above are in varying degree provide the quick hits on what to see and when but are all lacking in providing the context of the countries history.Here is where A Traveller's History of England towers above all the rest. Its starts off, believe it or not, at the beginning of time, or near to it, some 300 million years ago, and before you are a few pages into it you learn that wheel was not introduced to the island till about 1000 BC. From there the book takes you through the string of events that came to be the England of today. You would think that a subject such as England, who defined modern Western civilization (Common Wealth, USA, and all its former colonies throughout the world, including a great part of Africa and Middle East) would be encyclopedic proportions and I am sure those books are out there but this book is far from it. At 255 pages, its an easy and engaging read. As the title, clear state, a Traveller's guide which should translate to a book sized more as a pamphlet rather than a phonebook.I began reading the book on my way to the London and over the following day, before and after trips sightseeing, I would be reading this book. Made my visit all the more fulfilling.I guess the last endorsement of this book would be that here I am on amazon.com looking for the sister books in hopes of finding the same quality writing and content. Keeping my fingers crossed.Finally, kudos to the author, Christopher Daniell, job well done and to soon to be reader, enjoy.

A comprehensive book, easily read, with tidbits thrown in which although perhaps not noteworthy in the long history of the country, add much interest to the text. Lists of monarchs and government rulers are included. Well worth the read.

I remember history classes in high school and college that were so boring that I never, ever thought I'd pick up another history book again. This book, though with it's short and concise summaries of events made it a pleasure to read. I found out (and retained!) more about England's history in this book, than all of my history classes combined!

This is an excellent single volume review of English history that makes for a great introduction for travellers, and interested readers alike. Almost by definition this relatively short volume leaves the interested reader wanting more, but it does cover such a wide span of time and topics admirably well (the ample bibliography will help interested readers to "dig deeper"). Highly recommended for travellers (it was a wonderful introduction for my 1st visit to the country, and even added intruiging insights for my spouse who had lived in London for several years).As a follow-on, consider reading Smith's  English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable . A wonderfully insightful and funny read once you understand the rudiments of English history from the "Traveller's History".

Good review of English history