Wednesday 8 October 2014

The Great History of Britain

It isn't easy to find a history book for younger children which looks at history chronologically so I was delighted to be able to review The Great History of Britain by Anne and Paul Fryer.

As a home educator, I'm not constrained by the National Curriculum. It had always seemed sensible to approach history chronologically and we, like many other home educators, had tried to do this. I was pleased to note that in the latest version of the National Curriculum, the Government has also come over to this approach!

Anyway, we've used various books but a real lack has been an up to date  history of Britain for younger children. Anne and Paul Fryer have plugged this gap with their 371 page book. The book starts in Roman times and each chapter edges forward; ending with Modern Britain including a discussion of the European Union and the Channel Tunnel. Each page is illustrated with a relevant black and white drawing and the font is large making the book accessible to children. In terms of age, the book is aimed at primary ages. I read it aloud to my five and seven year olds. The five year old listened to parts but my seven year old loved this book and began to request it for her bedtime story.

The sections are short enough to be read to quite young children but its clear, uncondescending presentation makes the book suitable for a quick read for adults or teenagers who want an overview of the chronology of British history.

Many history books for children seem to be written from a secular humanist point of view and contain statements implying that religion is something that was only relevant to earlier times. This book doesn't do this, for example, in its coverage of the Armada, it states

Queen Elizabeth was delighted at the failure of the Armada. She had a special medal created which had an inscription on it which said "God blew and they were scattered".

This book does not have an overtly religious stance but comes across as respectful to Christians and the issues and concerns which been important to Christians in the history of Britain.


The Great History of Britain is going to be something that we refer to again and again.I would highly recommend this for all families with children of primary age whether they home educate or not. I liked the book enough that I have ordered another copy to give as a  gift for an upcoming occasion.

The Great History of Britain is available on Amazon priced at £8.86 as a soft cover and £4.15 as a Kindle download.

A trailer for the book is available.

I understand that it is hoped to produce an accompanying activity book. 


I was provided with a copy of The Great History of Britain for the purpose of this review. I was not obliged to give a positive review. The views expressed are mine and those of my children.

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9 comments:

  1. Thank you for the review. That book is going on my list of books to add to my British History books.

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  2. That's for the review. I'm from NZ and I've been looking for resources to read to my children because we are likely to be spending a month or two in the UK next year. You've mentioned that you're used other material as well so I was wondering- are you be able comment on how this book compares to titles such as "Our Island Story" by H.E. Marshall, or "The Story of Britain" by P Dillon? Thanks!

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    1. Lin, I can't comment on "The Story of Britain" but can comment on "Our Island Story". "The Great History of Britain" is more up to date than "Our Island Story". As the latter was published in 1905, it obviously doesn't cover either World War nor their causes. My edition of "Our Island Story" has a preface by Lady Antonia Fraser in which she says that she first read the book aged four and half-I suspect that she was an exception! I haven't had very early readers but have had children with quite reasonable comprehension. I don't think any of them would have coped with "Our Island Story" at this age whereas my five year old listened to chapters from "The Great History of Britain" with no difficulty. However, there is more detail in "Our Island Story". The language of "The Great history" is more straightforward and less flowery than "Our Island Story" can be in places.

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  3. This looks great! I'm going to get our library to buy it if I can.

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    1. Annie Kate, it would be a great choice for a library. You are reminding me about my lamentable lack of knowledge of Canadian history. Can you recommend a book?

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  4. Ooo sounds good! We are reading through Our Island Story at the moment and would also be interested in hearing how it compares.

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    1. Hi Sarah, I've written about Our Island Story as a reply to Lin. We do use both . We sometimes listen to an audio version of Our Island Story over breakfast.

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