A Short History of England Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9783849677510 Books
Download As PDF : A Short History of England Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9783849677510 Books
Chesterton, in his unimitable way, remarks that “the only way to write a popular history is to write it backwards.” This is somewhat the method he employs in his book, “A Short History of England," in which he aims to show the importance of the populace in history, an importance that is wholly neglected by historians. England, he asserts, was created, not so much by the death of the ancient Roman civilization, as “by its escape from death, or by its refusal to die." For four hundred years Britain was wholly Roman in its civilization. Medizeval civilization arose out of the “resistance to the naked barbarians from the North, and the more subtle barbarians from the East." The crisis in English history, he argues, was not the period of the Stuarts, but the fall of Richard II. following “his failure to use medimval despotism in the interests of medieval democracy." Mr. Chesterton portrays the democracy of the Middle Ages, this civilization being the creation, really, of the people through their guilds and through monasticism which was a democratic institution which the Reformation destroyed.
A Short History of England Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9783849677510 Books
If you're looking to learn the history of England in a concise book, I'll warn you that this is not the one you want. But its misleading title is probably its worst aspect.Rather than being a history of England, this book is *about* the history of England. It's a commentary, and it may be a good one. But if you don't know the backstory, then the commentary can be frustrating. There are a lot of statements of this general form: "What happened next was not only [this], but it was actually [that]." Well, great. But what was it that actually happened next? It doesn't say, but goes on to discuss the implications. There are many references to people and events that are deep in the backstory.
All that said, I think the book provides some interesting views on English history, but you'll be at a disadvantage if you don't know the history all that well.
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Tags : A Short History of England [Gilbert Keith Chesterton] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Chesterton, in his unimitable way, remarks that “the only way to write a popular history is to write it backwards.” This is somewhat the method he employs in his book,Gilbert Keith Chesterton,A Short History of England,Jazzybee Verlag,3849677516,HISTORY Europe Great Britain
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A Short History of England Gilbert Keith Chesterton 9783849677510 Books Reviews
Before reading this book you should review your high-school history textbook or the Wikipedia equivalent.
Then you can enjoy the colorful language and original analysis of GK Chesterton. Assuming that the reader already knows the basic dates and names, he presents the evolution of beliefs, classes and state in England from pre-roman times all the way to our days. He tells a tale of passion, ambition and blood shed, of the people who pay all the bills for the glory or disgrace of leaders, and of how things went from bad to worse during the last 2000 years.
A good reading with a touch of intellectual challenge.
This requires a decent understanding of English history. You don't get dates here. Or even full names. Instead you get a sweeping look at the development of ideas and ideals. That built the modern.
Chesterton presents an anthropological, social, religious, and philosophical history of England. This highlights the unique forces that have created the nation. It is not a history composed of events, dates, and historical figures around which most histories have been formed.
Written in what I would consider a "high style," the content can be difficult. There are also clever references to the times in which Chesterton lived. So anyone not acquainted with news of the times would miss the "insider" references. This keeps the history from earning a fifth star.
If you love Chesterton, this work is full of the kind of cutting humor and cultural insight that is his best. The title is a bit misleading in the sense that this is more a "collection of essays on aspects of English History." It should also be seen as a critique of other popular histories of his day. However, he remains the best Christian apologist in the modern era and of the modern era.
I haven't read this book yet, so am just reviewing the format.
Notice the dimensions 8.5 x 0.2 x 11 inches; the books is irregularly tall and wide, but thin and floppy. The first several pages are a poor photo copy of some printed version of the book. The majority of the text seems to have been copied and pasted from a different-sized book without being reformatted, so that the content that would normally show up in the heading of each page -- the page number, chapter title, and book title in caps -- shows up, in this printed version, not as a heading, but on a random place on each page; this means that the "page numbers" reflect the number of the original book, and are inaccurate and worthless for this version. Similarly, occasional formatting notes -- things like "H3," "6*", and others -- appear at random parts on the page, interrupting sentences. Lastly, the cover picture is terribly grainy, not nearly as clear as the picture on suggests.
I would return this, if it were not such a hassle. Buy a different format, unless you just plan to read once and toss it out.
I had forgotten that this work existed, and am delighted to have found it. Written during World War I, it is in a small sense a work of its time, and in that a fascinating glimpse of one man's perspective of that tragic period and its origins. But it is far more than that a provocative, unique and even mind-bending review of the forces of history that Marx could not possibly have understood. I found myself forced to think, ponder and muse on every page. And for a work that is a hundred years old it is oddly enough as fresh as the morning headlines.
If you're looking to learn the history of England in a concise book, I'll warn you that this is not the one you want. But its misleading title is probably its worst aspect.
Rather than being a history of England, this book is *about* the history of England. It's a commentary, and it may be a good one. But if you don't know the backstory, then the commentary can be frustrating. There are a lot of statements of this general form "What happened next was not only [this], but it was actually [that]." Well, great. But what was it that actually happened next? It doesn't say, but goes on to discuss the implications. There are many references to people and events that are deep in the backstory.
All that said, I think the book provides some interesting views on English history, but you'll be at a disadvantage if you don't know the history all that well.
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