A Comic History of England

A captivating, uproarious and informative journey through the beginnings of British history. Gilbert Abbott à Beckett was one of the great journalists of his time, being a descendant of Thomas Becket who edited Figaro, was a founder member of Punch, and wrote for The Times, The Morning Herald, and The Illustrated London News. He also wrote around fifty plays, as well as two operas, and is best known for this history of England.

The second in an uproarious, sardonic and incisive look through English history. In this volume, we discover the actions of the Normans and King Richard, giving clear reasons why we history should hold them in nothing but contempt. It also covers the signing of the Magna Carta, the first bill of rights in England, which came about because a powerless king tried to go to war, realised that he had no-one behind him, and was bullied into signing in order to not simply be executed.

In the third drily hilarious volume of A Comic History Of England, we move forward to the thirteenth century, when a succession of Edwards and Henrys gain the throne and immediately use it to steal everything they can from the population, in order to fund attempts to conquer France (or pay their debts from conquering England). Along the way we get the fabled Black Prince, one of the greatest battles in English history, a queen far more powerful than her king or sons, and a consideration of the manners and condition of the English period up to this point in the history.

Prepare for the most uproariously grim tour of Tudor England ever recorded! Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett's classic satire skewers the so-called "golden age" of English monarchy, revealing the Tudors as they truly were: a parade of tyrants, schemers, and royal disasters who treated their subjects like pawns in a deadly game of power.