Audiobook · read by volunteers
À Child's History of England
Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
Read by Lizzie Driver, Joshua B. Christensen, Laura Koskinen, Sarah Jennings, Justin Brett, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014), Robin Cotter, Cori Samuel, John Lieder, Nicholas James Bridgewater · 37 chapters · 16 h 20
About the book
Charles Dickens wrote this history for his own children, and it reads like a story told by a lively, opinionated father. Starting with the ancient Britons and the Romans, he walks through the centuries, from Alfred and Canute through the Norman conquest to the Plantagenets, the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors. He enjoys describing battles, plots and strange personalities, and he has strong opinions about kings and queens, some of them far from flattering. Humour and indignation run side by side. This is not a textbook, but a narrative with a distinctive voice, full of vivid pictures. A team of volunteer readers shares the thirty-seven chapters, which add up to about sixteen hours of listening. Brisk, funny and fiercely opinionated, it makes the past feel immediate. The tale runs from the Roman invasion all the way to the late seventeenth century.
Introduction
Charles Dickens lived from 1812 to 1870, and by the time he wrote this book he was already the best-known novelist in England. A Child's History of England first appeared in instalments in his weekly magazine Household Words, between 1851 and 1853, and was then published in three volumes, in 1852, 1853 and 1854. He dedicated it to his own children, hoping that it would lead them, in time, to read larger and better books on the same subject.
Dickens did not set out to produce a scholarly work. He drew on earlier historians and told the story as he saw it, with a clear moral view. He admired kings who ruled justly and bravely, and he detested cruelty and hypocrisy, particularly in rulers and churchmen. His tone can be playful or fierce, and a modern historian would certainly disagree with him on many points. Yet the book shows how Dickens understood the past, and it is full of his gift for character and scene.
The history covers the period from the time of the Romans to the late seventeenth century, with a final chapter that sums up events down to the accession of Queen Victoria. This LibriVox recording lasts more than sixteen hours and is divided into 37 chapters, most of them devoted to a single reign. It was read by a team of volunteers. It is a lively companion for anyone who enjoys Dickens or likes history told with personality.
Dickens's voice is unmistakable, with its sudden jokes and indignant asides. The sheer number of kings, battles and plots might be daunting, but the short chapters and the strong characterisation make them easy to keep in mind. It is a book for the curious, whatever their age.
Public domain
Charles Dickens died in 1870: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text