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Rating: 
Summary: A Military - Political History
Review: Churchill has written a wonderfully readable history of early Britain. This effort is broken into three books: 1) The Island Race (i.e., Roman Province, Vikings, Saxons, Alfred the Great); 2) The Making of a Nation (i.e., Norman Invasion, William the Conqueror, Henry Plantagenet, English Common Law, Magna Carta); and 3) The End of the Feudal Age (i.e., Henry V, Joan of Arc, York and Lancaster, Richard III).As you can tell from this brief sketch of the table of contents, the book is primarily a political and military history of Britain. Although some of Churchill's commentary on the issue of religious faith in Britain was of interest, this effort lacks in its sparse coverage of such matters. The same may be said of Churchill's treatment of Britain's social history. Churchill does not appear to have broached any new areas in the history of Britain. I'm left with the impression that he is merely passing on the ideas of other historians which he personally believes to be true. Yet, there is nothing wrong with coming to conclusions, and there is great worth in passing on excellent and interesting information to the readers. Frankly, I enjoyed this book very much. It is an excellent survey of Britain up until the time of the Reformation. I recommend it highly to all who are interested.
Rating:
Summary: A Military - Political History
Review: Churchill has written a wonderfully readable history of early Britain. This effort is broken into three books: 1) The Island Race (i.e., Roman Province, Vikings, Saxons, Alfred the Great); 2) The Making of a Nation (i.e., Norman Invasion, William the Conqueror, Henry Plantagenet, English Common Law, Magna Carta); and 3) The End of the Feudal Age (i.e., Henry V, Joan of Arc, York and Lancaster, Richard III). As you can tell from this brief sketch of the table of contents, the book is primarily a political and military history of Britain. Although some of Churchill's commentary on the issue of religious faith in Britain was of interest, this effort lacks in its sparse coverage of such matters. The same may be said of Churchill's treatment of Britain's social history. Churchill does not appear to have broached any new areas in the history of Britain. I'm left with the impression that he is merely passing on the ideas of other historians which he personally believes to be true. Yet, there is nothing wrong with coming to conclusions, and there is great worth in passing on excellent and interesting information to the readers. Frankly, I enjoyed this book very much. It is an excellent survey of Britain up until the time of the Reformation. I recommend it highly to all who are interested.
Rating: 
Summary: Fine writing, poor coverage
Review: Churchill was a superb writer, a man whose style I find inspiring. The way he conveys the information in this volume is most engaging. However, this is not really a good history book, as Churchill's focus is much too narrow. He focuses on military and political matters to the near exclusion of everything else. He gives little discussion to things that have had profound effects on history, like disease and plagues (the Black Plague receives brief, cursorary treatment), and if you read through this volume, you will find little if any discussion of music, dress, art, architecture, language, agriculture, sport, religion, literature, or daily life among the English speaking peoples. Science and inventions are only mentioned if they contribute something to the art of war. His work is accurately described by a quote from J. Henri Fabre, "History pays but little attention to these details: it celebrates the battle-fields whereon we meet our death, it scorns to speak of the ploughed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of the King' bastards, it cannot tell us the origin of wheat. That is the way of human folly." While Churchill's style is excellent, his chronicling is myopic and therefore unsatisfactory. This volume does not give much "history" of the "peoples" (as the book's title would suggest), but it does tell about an island's wars and her kings.
Rating:
Summary: Fine writing, poor coverage
Review: Churchill was a superb writer, a man whose style I find inspiring. The way he conveys the information in this volume is most engaging. However, this is not really a good history book, as Churchill's focus is much too narrow. He focuses on military and political matters to the near exclusion of everything else. He gives little discussion to things that have had profound effects on history, like disease and plagues (the Black Plague receives brief, cursorary treatment), and if you read through this volume, you will find little if any discussion of music, dress, art, architecture, language, agriculture, sport, religion, literature, or daily life among the English speaking peoples. Science and inventions are only mentioned if they contribute something to the art of war. His work is accurately described by a quote from J. Henri Fabre, "History pays but little attention to these details: it celebrates the battle-fields whereon we meet our death, it scorns to speak of the ploughed fields whereby we thrive; it knows the names of the King' bastards, it cannot tell us the origin of wheat. That is the way of human folly." While Churchill's style is excellent, his chronicling is myopic and therefore unsatisfactory. This volume does not give much "history" of the "peoples" (as the book's title would suggest), but it does tell about an island's wars and her kings.
Rating: 
Summary: Churchill Speaking English
Review: When you consider the conditions under which Churchill wrote these books, they are even more amazing. Churchill writes history the way I like to read it. History is about people, ideas and concepts. As the German metaphysical philosophers are so fond of suggesting, perhaps history is the outworking of God's Mind. When I read this book I began to understand not just the evolution of the island race, which I have read about before -- the migration of the tribes across Europe -- but more importantly I began to understand the evolution of the English Parliamentary system. This book describes the painfully slow and difficult process of hewing out those rights which we in America consider our "entitlement" and so often take foolishly for granted. Furthermore, I grew to understand, as the great lawyer, Ray Garrett, Jr., once said, "It is the law that makes organized life possible." Winston Churchill had one of the greatest minds in history. It is a thrill to share his intelligent reflections on history and culture. This book is a must for your personal library.
Rating:
Summary: Churchill Speaking English
Review: When you consider the conditions under which Churchill wrote these books, they are even more amazing. Churchill writes history the way I like to read it. History is about people, ideas and concepts. As the German metaphysical philosophers are so fond of suggesting, perhaps history is the outworking of God's Mind. When I read this book I began to understand not just the evolution of the island race, which I have read about before -- the migration of the tribes across Europe -- but more importantly I began to understand the evolution of the English Parliamentary system. This book describes the painfully slow and difficult process of hewing out those rights which we in America consider our "entitlement" and so often take foolishly for granted. Furthermore, I grew to understand, as the great lawyer, Ray Garrett, Jr., once said, "It is the law that makes organized life possible." Winston Churchill had one of the greatest minds in history. It is a thrill to share his intelligent reflections on history and culture. This book is a must for your personal library.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of an easy to read history of Britain and Amer
Review: Winston Churchill wrote history as it probably ought to be written - it's readable!
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