The story of your home;

by Agnes Allen

Genres: History, Architecture

188 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1949

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have thankfully found a way to read Agnes Allen's The Story of Your Home for free (and which I do appreciate since the online copies available for purchase are pretty crazy expensive). However, it sadly was a very badly falling apart copy with almost half of the pages missing (and as such, I actually do not know if The Story of Your Home has an included bibliography, but I am assuming so). And happily, from what I did read, from what I have been able to read, I have indeed totally enjoyed the presented text and am equally glad that The Story of Your Home was awarded the 1949 Carnegie Medal (and is also one of very few non fiction books thus accoladed).

Now in The Story of Your Home, Agnes Allen begins with early humans and engagingly, with wonderful enlightenment takes her readers (from about the age of ten or so onwards) through the history of British architecture, showing how houses have evolved over time. And in the process, The Story of Your Home also gives historical contexts and how the social conditions of the time have helped to shape building practices.

Superbly researched and detailed, the combination in The Story of Your Home of Agnes Allen's text and the many usefully detailed black and white illustrations (drawn by Agnes Allen and her husband) help the reader to visualise the houses being described and to understand the different techniques with which the featured homes were constructed (and much better than if The Story of Your Home were to only feature words and no accompanying artwork). And while some of the reviews I have read online seem to rather lament the fact that there are only black and white and no full colour pictures and that there is also not an a real "story" to be found in The Story of Your Home, for me (and both for my adult self and my inner child), both Agnes Allen's text and her and her husband's illustrations are delightfully interesting and equally totally, absolutely wonderfully engaging, leaving my rating for The Story of Your Home as a full and appreciated five stars (but with the necessary and required caveat that I also would only recommend The Story of Your Home for readers who are interested in British history and British buildings, as indeed, the themes presented by Agnes Allen are pretty specific and narrow, not problematic for me, of course, but other readers might want something not so specifically focussing on the history of British houses).

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Story of Your Home. Agnes Allen. 1949 @CILIPCKG #Carnegie Informative but odd mix of progress narrative & nostalgia, & gender roles.

Reviewed @reallyReads