I don't flatter myself that ANYONE is as interested in this review (or as happy to have it finally done) as I am, but I'm going to put it out there anyway, mainly because I feel it is only fair to those who have a crazy obsession with English history like I do. This is one book (series of books?) that really should not be skipped, if you fall into that category of clinical psychosis.
Winston Churchill (the Winston Churchill you're thinking of, yes) began writing his four-volume A History of the English-Speaking Peoples in the year 1937, just before England was thrown into World War II. Delayed by the war and by other projects, Churchill did not get this epic published until 1956 -- nineteen years after it was begun.
Volume I, The Birth of Britain, covers the history of the English isle from 55 B.C. (the year Julius Caesar and the Roman army invaded England) to 1485, with the end of the Wars of the Roses at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The hardcover copy I borrowed from my father weighed in at a hefty 500 pages. This is not light reading.
And yet, at times, it seems it! Churchill's famous prose is amazing. I will admit (to my great embarrassment) that there were times when I had more fun reading quietly aloud to myself, in order to savor the prose, similar to the method in which some people insist on reading Shakespeare. Also, considering how long the book is, Churchill is anything but long-winded. Each great moment in history has its chapter, and doesn't drag out unduly. Churchill makes his point, then moves on. Would that all historical writers did the same!
It's a wonderful read, and should really be considered by anyone who is interested in some serious English history. I plan on reading all three of the remaining volumes, but I'm going to give myself a little time to read something lighter and fluffier before I delve into Volume II.
Rating: *****
Volume I, The Birth of Britain, covers the history of the English isle from 55 B.C. (the year Julius Caesar and the Roman army invaded England) to 1485, with the end of the Wars of the Roses at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The hardcover copy I borrowed from my father weighed in at a hefty 500 pages. This is not light reading.
And yet, at times, it seems it! Churchill's famous prose is amazing. I will admit (to my great embarrassment) that there were times when I had more fun reading quietly aloud to myself, in order to savor the prose, similar to the method in which some people insist on reading Shakespeare. Also, considering how long the book is, Churchill is anything but long-winded. Each great moment in history has its chapter, and doesn't drag out unduly. Churchill makes his point, then moves on. Would that all historical writers did the same!
It's a wonderful read, and should really be considered by anyone who is interested in some serious English history. I plan on reading all three of the remaining volumes, but I'm going to give myself a little time to read something lighter and fluffier before I delve into Volume II.
Rating: *****
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