Book Fair--Temporarily On Hold

I would recommend to you Jane Austen's The History of England. This is available in print or in ebook form (see, for example, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/austen/austen.html).

Jane Austen wrote this book when she was a teenager. Her customary wit and delightful commentary are apparent even in her title and subtitle, "The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st. By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian. N.B. There will be very few Dates in this History."

And, true to her word, there are very few dates. In fact, the only date she gives is the date of a letter: the 6th of May of some unmentioned year.

Austen makes her way through part of England's history in around 3,500 words (so it is short story length, even though it is written in something like chapters). Her judgments on the kings and queens and other historical figures are wonderfully biased (e.g. about Henry the 6th, "I cannot say much for this Monarch's Sense. Nor would I if I could, for he was a Lancastrian.") and quite imaginative.

-Mariah :)