Great Tales from English History

321 Pages·2006·4.037 MB·English

by  Robert Lacey

· ·
GREAT TALES
FROM
E N G L I S H
H I S T O R Y
Also by Robert Lacey
ROBERT, EARL OF ESSEX
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRY VIII
THE QUEENS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC
SIR WALTER RALEGH
MAJESTY: ELIZABETH II AND THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR
THE KINGDOM
PRINCESS
ARISTOCRATS
FORD:THE MEN AND THE MACHINE
GOD BLESS HER!
LITTLE MAN
GRACE
SOTHEBY’S: BIDDING FOR CLASS
1000
THE YEAR
THE QUEEN MOTHER’S CENTURY
ROYAL: HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II
GREAT TALES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY:
THE TRUTH ABOUT KING ARTHUR, LADY GODIVA,
RICHARD THE LIONHEART,AND MORE
GREAT TALES FROM ENGLISH HISTORY:
JOAN OF ARC,THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER, BLOODY MARY,
OLIVER CROMWELL, SIR ISAAC NEWTON,AND MORE
GREAT TALES
FROM
E N G L I S H
H I S T O R Y
Captain Cook, Samuel Johnson,
Queen Victoria, Charles Darwin,
Edward the Abdicator, and More
ROBERT LACEY
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
New York (cid:2) Boston (cid:2) London
Copyright © 2006by Robert Lacey
Illustrations and family trees copyright © 2006by Fred van Deelen
All rights reserved.
Little,Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group USA
1271Avenue ofthe Americas,New York,NY 10020
Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com
First North American eBook edition,December 2006
ISBN 0-7595-6986-x
FOR BRUNO

CONTENTS
The Stuarts and the Hanoverians x
Victoria and Her Descendants xi
Introduction: Tale of a Whale 1
1690 John Locke and Toleration 8
1690 ‘Remember the Boyne!’– the Birth ofthe
Orangemen 13
1693 Britannia Rules the Waves– the Triangular Trade 17
1701 Jethro Tull’s ‘Drill’and the Miner’s Friend 22
1704 Marlborough Catches the French Sleeping at the
Village ofthe Blind 25
1707 Union Jack 30
1714 Made in Germany 33
1720 South Sea Bubble 36
1721–42 Britain’s First Prime Minister 39
1738 Born Again 43
1739 Dick Turpin– ‘Stand and Deliver!’ 46
1745 God Save the King! 50
1755 Dr Johnson’s Dictionary 55
1759 General Wolfe and the Capture ofQuebec 59
1766 James Hargreaves and the Spinning Jenny 63
1770 Captain Cook– Master ofthe Pilotage 67
1773 The Boston Tea Party 71
1785 Thomas Clarkson– the Giant with One Idea 75
1788 The Madness ofKing George III 79
1789 ‘Breadfruit Bligh’and the Mutiny on the Bounty 83
· vii ·
contents
1791 Thomas Paine and the Rights ofMan 88
1792 Mary Wollstonecraft and the Rights ofWoman 93
1805 England Expects... 98
1811 Fanny Burney’s Breast 103
1812 Who Was Ned Ludd? 107
1815 Wellington and Waterloo 112
1823 Stone Treasures– Mary Anning and the Terror
Lizards 117
1830 Blood on the Tracks 120
1819–32 The Lung Power ofOrator Hunt 124
1834 The Tolpuddle Martyrs 129
1837 ‘I Will Be Good’– Victoria Becomes Queen 133
1843 ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’– Isambard Kingdom
Brunel 137
1843 Rain, Steam & Speed– the Shimmering Vision
ofJ.M.W.Turner 142
1851 Prince Albert’s Crystal Palace 145
1852 ‘Women and Children First!’– the BirkenheadDrill 149
1854 Into the Valley ofDeath 153
1854–5 The Lady ofthe Lamp and the Lady with the
Teacup (plus the Odd Sip ofBrandy) 159
1858 Charles Darwin and the Survival ofthe Fittest 167
1878 The Great Stink– and the Tragedy ofthe
Princess Alice 172
1887 Lord Rosebery’s Historical Howler 177
1888 Annie Besant and ‘Phossy Jaw’– the Strike ofthe
Match Girls 179
1897 Diamond Jubilee– the Empire Marches By 183
1900 Slaughter on Spion Kop 187
1903 Edward VII and the Entente Cordiale 192
1910 Cellar Murderer Caught by Wireless–
Dr Crippen 196
1912 ‘I May Be Some Time...’– the Sacrifice of
Captain Oates 200
1913 The King’s Horse and Emily Davison 205
1914 When Christmas Stopped a War 210
1915 Patriotism Is Not Enough– Edith Cavell 214
· viii ·
contents
1916 Your Country Needs You!– the Sheffield Pals 218
1926 A Country Fit for Heroes? 223
1930 The Greatest History Book Ever 228
1933 Not Cricket– ‘Bodyline’Bowling Wins the Ashes 231
1936 Edward the Abdicator 236
1938 Peace for Our Time!– Mr Chamberlain
Takes a Plane 240
1940 Dunkirk– Britain’s Army Saved by the
Little Boats 245
1940 Battle ofBritain– the Few and the Many 249
1943 Code-making,Code-breaking– ‘The Life That
I Have’ 254
1945 Voice ofthe People 258
1953 Decoding the Secret ofLife 262
Bibliography and Source Notes 267
Acknowledgements 289
Index 292
·· iixx ··