Our Island Story: A Child's History of England, published abroad as An Island Story: A Child's History of England, is a book by the British author Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, first published in 1905 in London by T. C. & E. C. Jack.[1]

Our Island Story
AuthorH. E. Marshall
IllustratorA. S. Forrest
Cover artistA. S. Forrest
LanguageEnglish
SubjectHistory
GenreReference
PublisherCivitas/Galore Park
Publication date
1905
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages512 pp
ISBN1-902984-74-9
OCLC63134934
Followed byScotland's Story 

Content

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It covers the history of England from the time of the Roman occupation until Queen Victoria's death, using a mixture of traditional history and mythology to explain the story of British history in a way accessible to younger readers.[2]

The book depicts the union of England and Scotland as a desirable and inevitable event,[3] and praises rebels and the collective will of the common people in opposing tyrants, including kings like John and Charles I.

Influence and impact

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The book inspired the parody 1066 and All That.[4]

Prime Minister David Cameron chose Our Island Story when asked to select his favourite childhood book in October 2010:[2]

When I was younger, I particularly enjoyed Our Island Story by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall [...] It is written in a way that really captured my imagination and which nurtured my interest in the history of our great nation.[2]

Richard Chartres in a lecture delivered at Gresham College mentioned his fondness for this text, relating it to an approach to English history rooted in the works of John Foxe and John Milton.[5]

References

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  1. ^ OLIS
  2. ^ a b c Hough, Andrew (29 October 2010). "Revealed: David Cameron's favourite childhood book is Our Island Story". Telegraph.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Our Island Story: Not as Conservative as David Cameron imagines", The Guardian, 7 February 2014. Accessed 11 March 2016
  4. ^ Samuel, Raphael; Light, Alison (1999). Island stories: unravelling Britain / ed. by Alison Light. London: Verso. p. 210. ISBN 9781859849651.
  5. ^ Chartres, Richard. "God Speaks First to His Englishmen: The Armada of 1588". www.gresham.ac.uk. Gresham College. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
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