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Foundation
Foundation: The History of England from Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors | Peter Ackroyd
The first book in Peter Ackroyd's history of England series, which has since been followed up with two more installments, Tudors and Rebellion. In Foundation, the chronicler of London and of its river, the Thames, takes us from the primeval forests of England's prehistory to the death, in 1509, of the first Tudor king, Henry VII. He guides us from the building of Stonehenge to the founding of the two great glories of medieval England: common law and the cathedrals. He shows us glimpses of the country's most distant past--a Neolithic stirrup found in a grave, a Roman fort, a Saxon tomb, a medieval manor house--and describes in rich prose the successive waves of invaders who made England English, despite being themselves Roman, Viking, Saxon, or Norman French. With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place and his acute eye for the telling detail, Ackroyd recounts the story of warring kings, of civil strife, and foreign wars. But he also gives us a vivid sense of how England's early people lived: the homes they built, the clothes the wore, the food they ate, even the jokes they told. All are brought vividly to life through the narrative mastery of one of Britain's finest writers.
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catiewithac
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I‘m addicted to English history! Peter Ackroyd provides a survey that alternates chapters of ordinary life with monarchs. I enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook and plan to listen to the remaining 5 volumes in Ackroyd‘s History of England series! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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LibrarianToujours
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Oops... We bought books in July because we were on vacation. I have no idea what happened this month. #augusthaul #augustphotochallenge

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Jessicav
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I love seeing all the #recommendsday picks! Here is mine: If you want a readable but thorough dive into English history, this is the series for you. Foundations covers the period from prehistory to the start of the Tudor period. At least 3 books are now out and I can't recommend them enough.

Gezemice Cool! Love history but I mostly know the Tudors from British history - they are attention hogs... Thanks for the recommendation! 8y
Jessicav @Gezemice They absolutely are. I haven't read that volume yet, but am thinking its time. They deserve the attention, but I'm also excited to get past them. I did my undergrad in history so it's sort of like a comfort read, but also full of new information. 8y
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Lani_bug
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My next read!! “Letters are signs of things, symbols of words, whose power is so great that without a voice they speak to us the words of the absent; for they introduce words by the eye, not by the ear.” Isidore of Seville

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wanderlust_lit
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I never used to be a reader of anything but fiction. But let me tell you I read Hamilton and then it's just open the door for so many other books! Foundation is absolutely exquisite. Rich and full of so much history. I just can't get enough! Plus it's a series so there's more books! Yippee! #England #History #nonfiction

MrBook Ooh, I want to read this one! Nice pic! 😊👍🏻 8y
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