Group Read: Peter Ackroyd - History of England series

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Group Read: Peter Ackroyd - History of England series

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1christina_reads
gen. 2, 2015, 12:17 pm

There appears to be some interest in a group read of Peter Ackroyd's History of England series, so I figured I'd go ahead and start a thread! There are six planned books in the series, but right now only three of them have been published:

Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors
Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I
Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution (also titled Civil War in the UK, I believe)

Initially, I thought we could spread these books out over the entire year. So January-April would be for book #1, May-August for book #2, and September-December for book #3. But maybe we don't need 4 months for each book, and we could condense it somehow -- maybe start in the second half of the year and allot 2 months for each book? For anyone else interested, what do you think?

2MarthaJeanne
gen. 2, 2015, 12:19 pm

I'd prefer to start earlier, so that the history is fresh in my head when we travel to England in April/May.

3hailelib
gen. 2, 2015, 1:23 pm

I would like to spread them out as I'll be more likely to actually finish more than one of them.

4sjmccreary
gen. 2, 2015, 3:16 pm

The first book is already waiting at the library for me to pick it up, so I'd just as soon start now. Assuming I enjoy the first one one enough to want to continue, I think I'd prefer to spread them out so they don't become some big chore pushing more interesting books aside.

5rabbitprincess
gen. 2, 2015, 6:16 pm

I'm OK with the original schedule, but if others want to read faster then that's all right too!

6MarthaJeanne
gen. 2, 2015, 6:36 pm

Looks to me like we're back with the original schedule.

70wllight
gen. 3, 2015, 1:42 pm

I read the first one and it was grand! I have the Tudor one on my list of "please give me". That's because I have vowed not to buy any books until I get the TBR down a bit more. Would that one be read in the summer then? Did I understand it right?

8christina_reads
gen. 3, 2015, 2:50 pm

>7 0wllight: Yes, the Tudor one would be read in the summer -- May through August.

Seems like everyone wants to start now and spread them out, which sounds fine to me! My original suggestion was January to April for book #1, May to August for book #2, and September to December for book #3. Sound good?

90wllight
gen. 4, 2015, 8:43 am

I think it sounds great, Christina! If no one gives it to me for my birthday, there's the library. Has anyone read his London: The Biography? It was really enjoyable, too.

10ironjaw
gen. 5, 2015, 9:02 am

Hmm, I could maybe try this having already all three books.

11MarthaJeanne
març 17, 2015, 4:18 pm

I'm working on Foundation and finding it fascinating going. I did read it already two years ago, but a lot seems to have slipped my mind.

For instance. Apparently I am bigger than King Henry I. Chapter 6 starts by saying that a yard was defined as the distance between the king's nose and his outstretched thumb. I use that measure to cut thread, and on me it is fairly close to a meter. Doubled it is a good length for most of my embroidery needs. But a meter is noticably longer than a yard.

12MarthaJeanne
Editat: març 25, 2015, 5:02 pm

I have found an 'inaccuaracy' near the end of the book. Even history gets out of date.

>>Richard's body was stripped of its armour and carried on a horse to the Franciscan house in Leicester wher it was buried without ceremony in a stone coffin. The coffin was later used as a horse trough, and the bones of Richard III scattered. He is the only English king, after the time of the Normans, who has never been placed in a royal tomb. (p424)

13christina_reads
març 25, 2015, 11:32 am

I finally got this book out of the library! Hoping to read it in April so you won't be alone on this thread, MarthaJeanne! :)

14rabbitprincess
març 25, 2015, 4:49 pm

>12 MarthaJeanne: Good catch! And Foundation was fairly recently published, too! It's surprising how quickly historical developments can occur.

I'll try this one again in April, although I might just read bits and pieces instead of the whole thing.

15MarthaJeanne
Editat: març 25, 2015, 5:02 pm

Hard to miss. Richard III's burial made the evening news even here in Austria.

I had read this in 2013, but most of it had not stuck in my brain. We'll be back in Warwick and Kenilworth, next month, so it was fun to see how often they came up.

16christina_reads
abr. 15, 2015, 5:40 pm

So I'm reading Foundation and finding it really tough going. The actual historical scholarship seems quite suspicious. There are no footnotes or endnotes, only a "selected" list of sources at the back, and most (if not all) of these are secondary sources. I understand that, kind of; this is meant to be a popular history rather than an academic one. But in that case, why is the prose so BORING? To be fair, I've only read the first three chapters, so maybe it will get better as it goes on. I really hope so!

17MarthaJeanne
juny 24, 2015, 3:34 am

I had intended to read Tudors this month, but it was only one of several loooong books. So, next month, maybe.

18Kristelh
juny 25, 2015, 5:05 pm

I have Tudors out from library. Can't say that I will read the whole but it's available for awhile to check out things such as Doctor Dee.

19MarthaJeanne
jul. 13, 2015, 5:34 am

I read The stripping of the altars just before this, which covers pretty much the same material, except that there the religious changes are the main matter, and here the politics. Ackroyd follows Duffy fairly closely in his interpretation. I found this interesting, as Stripping went against the grain of most historical interpretation when it first came out 20 years ago.

I'm half way through now.

20MarthaJeanne
jul. 17, 2015, 3:21 am

Finished. Yes, reading these two books back to back was very useful. The other order might have been better, as this is the shorter, more general one.

21MarthaJeanne
ag. 22, 2015, 4:40 am

I just finished reading A history of ancient Britain and thought I would mention it here. This is a very readable account of the history of Britain through Roman times. It is enlivened by Neil Oliver's enjoyment, as a trained archaeologist, of being able to see and even touch all the famous sites and finds across Britain for the BBC series this accompanies.

22MarthaJeanne
feb. 21, 2016, 5:17 pm

I finally got around to Civil War, Ackroyd. I found it very easy to follow, and I learned a lot.

23MarthaJeanne
abr. 1, 2016, 2:45 pm

24MarthaJeanne
Editat: jul. 14, 2018, 8:02 am

Update: I've now read the fourth volume Revolution. I see that the next one is available for preorder. Dominion

25rabbitprincess
jul. 14, 2018, 8:52 am

>24 MarthaJeanne: Thanks for the info! That's my mum's Christmas present sorted.

26MarthaJeanne
Editat: jul. 14, 2018, 9:55 am

I'll wait for the paperback. It is nice to see that there progress.