Great Tales from English History, Vol 3

by Robert Lacey

With insight, humor and fascinating detail, Lacey brings brilliantly to life the stories that made England -- from Ethelred the Unready to Richard the Lionheart, the Venerable Bede to Piers the Ploughman.

The greatest historians are vivid storytellers, Robert Lacey reminds us, and in Great Tales from English History, he proves his place among them, illuminating in unforgettable detail the characters and events that shaped a nation.

In this volume, Lacey limns the most important period in England's past, highlighting the spread of the English language, the rejection of both a religion and a traditional view of kingly authority, and an unstoppable movement toward intellectual and political freedom from 1387 to 1689.

Opening with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and culminating in William and Mary's "Glorious Revolution," Lacey revisits some of the truly classic stories of English the Battle of Agincourt, where Henry V's skilled archers defeated a French army three times as large; the tragic tale of the two young princes locked in the Tower of London (and almost certainly murdered) by their usurping uncle, Richard III; Henry VIII's schismatic divorce, not just from his wife but from the authority of the Catholic Church; "Bloody Mary" and the burning of religious dissidents; Sir Francis Drake's dramatic, if questionable, part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada; and the terrible and transformative Great Fire of London, to name but a few.

Here Anglophiles will find their favorite English kings and queens, villains and victims, authors and architects - from Richard II to Anne Boleyn, the Virgin Queen to Oliver Cromwell, Samuel Pepys to Christopher Wren, and many more.

Continuing the "eminently readable, highly enjoyable" ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch ) history he began in volume I of Great Tales from English History, Robert Lacey has drawn on the most up-to-date research to present a taut and riveting narrative, breathing life into the most pivotal characters and exciting landmarks in England's history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, Historical, European History, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Robert Lacey is a British historian noted for his original research, which gets him close to - and often living alongside - his subjects. He is the author of numerous international bestsellers.

After writing his first works of historical biography, Robert, Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Ralegh, Robert wrote Majesty, his pioneering biography of Queen Elizabeth II. Published in 1977, Majesty remains
acknowledged as the definitive study of British monarchy - a subject on which the author continues to write and lecture around the world, appearing regularly on ABC's Good Morning America and on CNN's Larry King Live.

The Kingdom, a study of Saudi Arabia published in 1981, is similarly acknowledged as required reading for businessmen, diplomats and students all over the world. To research The Kingdom, Robert and his wife Sandi took their family to live for eighteen months beside the Red Sea in Jeddah. Going out into the desert, this was when Robert earned his title as the "method actor" of contemporary biographers.

In March 1984 Robert Lacey took his family to live in Detroit, Michigan, to write Ford: the Men and the Machine, a best seller on both sides of the Atlantic which formed the basis for the TV mini-series of the same title, starring Cliff Robertson.

Robert's other books include biographies of the gangster Meyer Lansky, Princess Grace of Monaco and a study of Sotheby's auction house. He co- authored The Year 1000 - An Englishman's World, a description of life at the turn of the last millennium. In 2002, the Golden Jubilee Year of Queen Elizabeth II, he published Royal (Monarch in America), hailed by Andrew Roberts in London's Sunday Telegraph as "compulsively readable", and by Martin Amis in The New Yorker as "definitive".

With the publication of his Great Tales Robert Lacey returns to his first love - history. Robert Lacey is currently the historical consultant to the award-winning Netflix series "The Crown".

Reviews

[Catherine Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’s addictive, I kept telling myself to only read one tale a day to stretch it out but somehow it made for compulsive reading and I couldn’t stop turning to the next chapter. I am however interested to know whether anyone else who has read this collection of tales was as surprised/disappointed as I was by the ‘Code-making Code-breaking’ Bletchley House and Enigma tale. How could Robert Lacey have so obviously overlooked Alan Turing? There was not even a whisper about the great man who suffered so much after saving so many with his code breaking/making skills.
The rest of the book was a pleasure to read, I love the short punchy style, even tales I’ve heard since childhood captured my imagination. I’ve enjoyed reading this book so much that I’ve already ordered his two previous works. I want to read the trilogy. But I am a little annoyed by Lacey’s decision not to mention Alan Turing, Turing has well and truly earned his place in England’s history. He deserves to be remembered at every opportunity. Apart from that oversight which I hope was not deliberate I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves getting glimpses of history in short thought-provoking grabs.

[John Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume three, proved to be another colorful history of England by Robert Lacey. Filled with interesting facts and tales, highlighting English history from 1690 to 1953. A very readable history with short chapters. Lacey again writes good history with a great narrative (storyteller) style and with some English humor. All of the English characters and notable events come to life. I very much enjoyed all three volumes. A good book for the Anglophile. The author provides a bibliography for those seeking to go deeper.

[Rose]

I read the first two volumes and enjoyed them very much, but I'm finding this one tedious. Is the modern era less fascinating? Am I just getting tired of the format (very very short snippets of history, in narrative form)? For whatever reason, I'm not inspired to continue past the mid-point of this one.

[Al Tarancón · Rating 3 out of 5]

From my blog original entry...

Ahora mismo me estoy leyendo tres libros, a ratos. El primero es Great Tales of English History de Robert Lacey. El libro cuenta de manera cronologica momentos curiosos o interesantes de la historia de los ingleses, narrandolos en cuatro o cinco paginas, y de manera muy amena. De este voy leyendo poco a poco, un capitulo o dos al dia. Este es el tercer libro, que cubre de 1690 a 1953, aunque servidor pretendia pillarse el segundo libro, que iba del 1100 al 1690, una epoca que me parecia mas interesante. Sin embargo, para cuando fui a pillarlo, ya no quedaban ejemplares. Ya veremos si lo vuelvo a encontrar. De momento lo estoy encontrando muy interesante y entretenido, y la verdad es que a lo tonto estoy aprendiendo bastante de la historia del pais. Tendre que mirar si hay algo parecido sobre España.

[DaFDC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wondered about the origin of the British “stiff upper lip?” Need a fresh take on the historicity of robin hood? How about a quick summary of the South Sea Bubble fiasco? Look no further for a quick and entertaining overview.

This is the perfect conclusion to a fabulous pop history trilogy about Britain. Robert Lacey has a gift for rendering history into anecdotes and personalities that characterize the times. Particularly great for those unfamiliar with British history at large or younger readers struggling to remember the names and dates.

I enjoyed everything about this book except the very end when the author tries to get all philosophical on us and set off my BS detector: When discussing DNA, he says, “Religion, philosophy and the law have yet to adapt to this: if we happen to be genetically programmed to eat, procreate or lose her temper to an excessive degree, how can our greed, lust or anger be condemned as soon as sins or crimes?” Well, because every day people all around the world prove that it’s both possible AND beneficial for themselves and society if we control our bodies (stop eating when we’re full, share instead of horde money, stay faithful to one’s spouse instead of stealing someone else’s, seek justice through law instead of vigilante methods), rather than letting our bodies simply control us. We have minds and choices. So yeah, that’s why we can blame people for their “sins or crimes.”

Other than that, I applaud and thank Robert Lacey for the trilogy!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacey finishes his trifecta of Great Tales from English History in memorable fashion over the modern years. Many of the strengths and weaknesses apparent in the first two volumes emerge over the course of this work, but it does not deter the reader from a rollicking good time through the years from John Locke to the impact of discovering DNA. Lacey, an old-school liberal in the A.J.P. Taylor mold, does skirt some key impacts of religious faith and can be guilty of imposing modernistic expectations a bit much against human endeavors in which the players are products of their times. But at other moments, you do get some satisfying heroism without hagiography. Of special note is when Lacey admits that PM Neville Chamberlain trusted the untrustworthy Hitler too much, and World War II enveloped Britain with all savagery. And yet, while Churchill shepherded the British people through much of the conflict, it was Chamberlain who had raised taxes just a touch specifically to build up the RAF, a commitment which made all the difference during the Battle of Britain. Lacey excels at the storytelling sketch, not the dense historical monograph. Thankfully, he does so as a historian to laypeople.

[Joe Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the third and final volume of the Great Tales from English History series. This volume covers the period from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the 1950s. Like the previous volumes, this one consists of a series of short stories from the history of England, well, actually Great Britain in this case. The stories are in chronological order, but they are not necessarily very tightly coupled into a narrative. So it's an easy book to read, and you can set it down for a few days and then pick it up again without any problems.

I enjoyed this book, and the entire series, and I recommend them to anyone who is interested in English history. It's a very gentle introduction to the subject, and a fun and easy read.

[Lincoln · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great, and it worked well as an audiobook. It's a collection of stories around episodes in British history from the late 17th century through the mid 20th. The author does a fine job reading it. I love the way certain folks can make historical incidents really come alive, and Robert Lacey does that here. I don't know why I started with Vol. 3. I want to go back and get Vols. 1 and 2 as well. It's about 6 hours long and, depending on the family, might make excellent car-drive listening on a road trip.

[Eli Gough]

Does a good job of showing multiple perspectives and offers great context for what's happening around the area and time; the wide range of stories are very interesting and offer some good knowledge and entertainment. It's nice that the book does not only focus on military history, and talks about sports and literature and living conditions, etc.
I will definitely be reading more British history specifically Churchill.

[Gadi Nissim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lacey's books. This book was fun to read and interesting. However, I enjoyed it a little less than the first two books of this series. Yet, for those who like the genre, I recommended the book.

[Backoff51 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great snippets

[Elliott Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant bite-sized stories that are five or so pages long. Covers mainstream history and things that wouldn't normally feature in a history book. A great read.

[Henry Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of the small pieces of English history thta just get left out. Well told!

[Diane Schindler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting and entertaining. I am not sure if all the stories are completely true, but due to the time in history it covers, I don't think anyone really knows the whole truth.

[Emma Dickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Superb audiobook omnibus, read by the author, giving short snippets on various historical subjects throughout the years. I very much enjoyed listening, while doing other things.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short stories from English history.

[Mark Fallon]

fun facts well written

[Albert Jessop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this series of 3 books. It definitely helps with those quiz questions and provides some context around why things happened the way they happened.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Entertaining Take on English History

Published in 2007 by W.F. Howes Ltd.
Read by the author, Robert Lacey
Duration: 6 hours, 15 minutes

Robert Lacey's quirky 3 volume collection Great Tales from English History was truly a joy to listen to. Volume III ran from the late 17th century to the 1990s and covered such topics as John Locke, The Boston Tea Party (a remarkably even-handed presentation of the American Revolution in general), King George III, the beginnings of the Methodist movement, the Industrial Revolution, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Charge of the Light Brigade, Darwin, Queen Victoria and World Wars I and II.

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2012/...

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of snippets from history. All interesting, each "tale" brings an era to life and does a better job than most histories of making the tale's characters recognizably human. Even the villains of English history, such as Richard III and Bloody Mary, are treated gently and made more understandable in the context of their times.

A lively and informative book, "Great Tales" is great to pick up now and then to encounter such disparate people as the Venerable Bede and Henry VIII, Alfred the Great and Oliver Cromwell, and many less famous figures who played important roles in England's story.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third volume held my interest---its short chapters (usually about 3 pages) contained interesting information about a range of historical figures; many of whom were new to me.

It started fast, but the recurrent style dragged about midway through. The writing held up well, but it was the repetitive nature of the chapters that slowed me down. They are written in a newspaper column style, and it's a style I really like, but it just got old after a while. I would have enjoyed this book much more if I had taken it in small doses over a longer period of time.

Still, I'd recommend it to anyone who has an interest in English history. It's a fine book, an intersting book.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are bite-sized nuggets of fascinating insight into various people and events in English history including such topics as breast cancer surgery without anesthesia in 1810, a background on 'General Ned Lud' and what the Luddites were trying to achieve, poor King George III's then mysterious illness (porphyria) which he apparently inherited from Mary Queen of Scots, details about the reasons for the mutiny on the Bounty and Captain Bly's eventful life after that.

I have found it very worthwhile to listen to repeatedly as each offering is chock full of interesting tidbits I want to follow up on with further research and reading. Very worthwhile and fun reading!

[Oliver Hodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it a lot and he manages to deal pretty successfully with choosing stories that are interesting- tales, indeed- as opposed to systematically telling a history. He definitely sketches both sides of the story and allows for exactly the kind of complexity historians like, and does so in a light way, not overbearing. I think that there could be lots of questions about other tales that could go in, but I didn't see too much barrow pushing, in fact it was almost frustrating trying to pin down lacey's politics.

[Pete Friend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the first two were scintillating but I think this one tops the lot, I read the final 30 odd pages on my train ride from victoria to brighton and sat in the stationary train at the end wishing the journey was longer so i could finish. the level of detail is perfect, the choice of figures and anecdotes and information is brilliant. i've just order the 3 volumes in one so i can read again, but also hope the author brings out more volumes to go with it, or maybe another countries history. awesome!

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and readable. Short essays (2-3 pages) on a variety of topics spanning about 350 years. There are insights into the development of Britain's economy (and the development of Britain for that matter), political system, industrialization and colonization. It was very interesting how one person's idea had major impacts down the road. Also, I did not realize until reading this that Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft. Or that Britain owed its air superiority in WW2 to the much maligned Chamberlain's fiscal policies in the previous decade.

[Mystie Winckler · Rating 3 out of 5]

MCL. audio.

Lacey is a good storyteller, and this is the period of history I know least about. The birth of modernity, a sad tale always packaged as progress, which must be good. At the outset of this period, Londoners actually chose disease and death over having the government regulate how they could dispose of their waste. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Lacey does it again! With stories from the madness of King George to Dr. Crippen to the discovery of DNA by Crick and Watson, Lacey's writing style brings well and little known stories from history to life.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first two volumes before a trip to England, which made the trip and the books infinitely more interesting - and makes this third volume harder to finish (i.e. no trip). So I think I'll shelve it till we're ready for another hop across the pond.

[MEK · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origin of the Union Jack and the Riot Act and more! All done up in brief and humorous tales. Painless English history in small enough bites to easily digest. That dose of humour sweetens the meal!