The English and Their History

Brilliant Overview of English History

“The English and Their History” was written by Robert Tombs, professor of French history at Cambridge University. It is an enjoyable read and covers 2,000 years of history in 1,024 pages. Tombs is a fluent, engaging and opinionated writer. The book is crammed full of interesting information but it does not read like a textbook. Tombs tends to focus on the positive aspects of English history and usually gives the English the benefit of the doubt. Tombs often challenges traditional myths and urban legends. Tombs is a proud Englishman and states that: “By the standards of humanity as a whole, England over the centuries has been among the richest, safest and best-governed places on earth, as periodical influxes of people testify.” England has ruled itself for most of its history. It has never lost a war at home since 1066, or been occupied, or suffered a revolution on the scale of those in France in 1789, Russia in 1917 or Germany in 1918. The English, he thinks, have been profoundly fortunate. From the ninth century onwards, it has had a distinctive language, culture, and religion, and has been more prosperous than most of its neighbors. Tombs believes that the English over the past 400 years can take some credit “for their economic and technological labors; for their long pioneering of the rule of law, of accountability and representation in government, of religious toleration and of civil institutions; and for their determined role in the defeat of modern tyrannies.” Tombs begins with the Roman invasion of Britain. Aethelston became the first English king in 937 after defeating the Vikings and uniting the country. The Norman Conquest of 1066 “annihilated England’s ruling class.” He claims that only eight of the 18 kings who ruled between 1066 and 1485 died peacefully in their beds. The Black Death in 1348 reduced the population by more than half. He claims that England fared better than its neighbors in its aftermath. A scarcity of labor and the accumulated legal ...