Audiobook · read by volunteers
Our Island Story, Part 2
Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall (1867–1941)
Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Jim Mowatt · 57 chapters · 7 h 48
About the book
The story of England does not stop for breath, and neither does Henrietta Marshall’s. In this second part the quarrels of two great houses give way to a new age, and the pages fill with queens, rivals, rebels and explorers. You will meet a king who was never crowned, two small princes in a tower, and a long line of rulers whose triumphs and foibles are told with a storyteller’s eye for the telling detail. Marshall writes as if she were speaking to a child at her knee, mixing folk tale and fact in a style that is lively, clear and never dull. The chapters are short and self-contained, so you can listen in small portions or let the hours run on. If you enjoyed the first part, this one carries the tale much further. If you are starting here, you will find that each story stands well on its own.
Introduction
Our Island Story was first published in 1905 and written by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall (1867 to 1941) as a history of England for children. This recording is its second part, and it begins where the first one leaves off, with the Red Rose and the White, the long struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York. From there the book runs through chapters about Queen Margaret and the robbers, the king-maker, Edward V, the king who was never crowned, and the two little princes in the Tower.
Marshall’s approach is to treat history as a procession of stories. She lets folk tale and recorded events share the page, and she aims to make the great figures of the past feel like people in a tale that children can follow. The tone is that of a patient, kindly narrator, and the pace is brisk. In this part there are 57 chapters, and the whole runs for about seven and three-quarter hours.
The reading was shared out among LibriVox volunteers, who record public-domain books for anyone to enjoy without charge. Because the book was written in the early twentieth century for young readers of its day, it carries the patriotic colouring and the simplifications of its time, and listeners today may want to enjoy it as a period piece as much as a record of the past. Its great virtue is still intact: it makes the story of a kingdom easy to follow and pleasant to remember. It suits long drives, family evenings and anyone who would like to rediscover English history in the voice of a storyteller.
Public domain
Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall died in 1941: 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