This Country of Ours, Part 1

Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall (1867-1941) was a British author who wrote popular histories for children, often publishing under the name H. E. Marshall. Her particular gift was for telling the story of the past as a connected narrative, in language simple enough for young readers but never condescending. Among her best-known works is Our Island Story, a history of Britain, and she wrote similar books for other countries.

This Country of Ours was published in 1917 and tells the history of the United States in the form of stories. It begins with accounts of exploration and settlement and ends with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. The book is presented in two parts. The part recorded here, Stories of Explorers and Pioneers, takes the reader from Leif Ericson to Sir Walter Raleigh. The twelve chapters have long, descriptive titles in the manner of the period, such as How the Vikings of Old Sought and Found New Lands and The Sea of Darkness and the Great Faith of Columbus.

As is usual in books of this kind from the early twentieth century, the narrative reflects the attitudes of its time and its author, and modern listeners may want to supplement it with more recent scholarship, particularly on the experience of Indigenous peoples. Even so, the book remains a lively example of how history was taught through storytelling.

The recording was made by LibriVox volunteer Kara Shallenberg and lasts about three hours. It is a good choice for reading together as a family, for students who need a gentle introduction to the era of exploration, and for anyone curious about how earlier generations told the story of their country.