A Child's History of England, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Child's History of England, Vol. 1 He writes no scientific history. What did the Conquest mean for England? Domesday Book, curfew bell, Norman dresses, Norman masters and manners, - a child gets no more from Dickens. To be sure, he does not clamour for more. Johnny Lockhart sent a message to his grandfather, he very much dislikes the chapter on Civilisation, and it is his desire that you will never say any more about it, for he dislikes it extremely. Dirks were enough for Master Lockhart. But, if one may speak for oneself (wtat. Sir Walter's exposi tion of the feudal ideal was lucid and highly interesting Here, one thought, was a right notion of how to live; and it is probable that, if children are to be taught history, they can easily be made to see that feudalism was a society with an idea. Dickens makes no effort to reach a child's intelligence on this point. Take, again, the Reformation. What notion does a child get from Dickens about the Re formation - about Luther's ideas On the other hand, Dickens writes here with a fine impartiality, and lets a child understand that the Reformation was dishonest, brutal, and blundering; that Henry VIII., being his own Pope, im partially burned both sides, and was, in a famous phrase. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.