This Sceptred Isle: 55BC - 1901 - Christopher Lee

It took me a long time to read this book as it is quite heavy going. However, it was very interesting to find out how the history of Britain developed and the ways events are interlinked. I have studied history at school but only learned about isolated events and not how they relate to each other so this book was very useful and informative. It is heavily based on Churchill's A History of the English-Speaking Peoples and from the excerpts from his writing that are quoted, I'm glad someone took the time to update it as it is much easier to absorb in more modern writing. I would advise reading it chunks though as it is so much to take in. It is a great book to have on ...  Read the complete review

History teaching in schools today isn't what it used to be. We've moved away from rote learning of names and dates toward a more analytical method, studying isolated historical events. It is not uncommon for A-grade GCSE students who know their Elizabethan England inside out to have no idea when the Hundred Years War took place or why. General history teaching, complete with date learning is not in keeping with current thoughts on good teaching practice. However, I think that the way history is currently taught misses the point - a broad foundation immeasurably aids understanding of specific events. I know that parrot-fashion learning of dates is rather ...  Read the complete review