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creabird's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
1.5
Grossly glosses over British colonial history and all the suffering the British Empire has brought upon many Native people. While it is a children’s book, some of British history is so simplified it becomes unrecognizable and portrayed through a very pro-British and pro-Empire lens. If you want to argue that atrocities are left out due to it being for children, you would be wrong, because many battles, tragedies and casualties of war are mentioned in great detail, as well as how people were tortured and executed in the middle ages.
Other than that, the bits about the royals and numerous succession fights were quite entertaining and it gives a broad overview over British history.
It is also very easy to read and thus suited for children.
Other than that, the bits about the royals and numerous succession fights were quite entertaining and it gives a broad overview over British history.
It is also very easy to read and thus suited for children.
nindie's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I found this book to be like a more detailed version of a Horrible Histories book that would include facts about everything to do with British history. People who like Horrible Histories would like a book like this if they want a brief on the years that made British history.
What I Liked About The Book
It was a kind of quick read that included enough information and detail for me to understand each bit of history. The added illustrations were pleasant to look at, too, while reading.
What I Didn't Like About The Book
The book could have included, explained and discussed more history in the periods. Mainly I felt that the bit about modern Britain was a bit rushed. It skipped over modern British history, and it would have been nice to read more information surrounding those bits in history.
In Conclusion
Overall this book is not too bad for learning facts about periods in British history. A great alternative for Horrible Histories books although not as good. I'm probably a little biased about that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Genocide, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, and Slavery
lucyp21's review against another edition
2.0
I bought this book ages ago and when a Goodreads challenge came up, I read it. I didn't actually remember that this was a children's book so that was a little bit of a surprise.
This book is a whistlestop tour through British history where it covers two thousand years of history in 125 pages. It is very, very brief on many things but it was a reasonably good overview. I liked the illustrations but the book got a little boring at parts. Considering it was barely over a hundred pages, this took longer for me to read than I would have thought.
2.5 stars!
This book is a whistlestop tour through British history where it covers two thousand years of history in 125 pages. It is very, very brief on many things but it was a reasonably good overview. I liked the illustrations but the book got a little boring at parts. Considering it was barely over a hundred pages, this took longer for me to read than I would have thought.
2.5 stars!
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