For the most part, I found this book to be very informative and interesting. I have always found England to be fascinating and regret not studying England's history earlier. This book is meant to be an introduction to England history, and I think it did a good job in doing so. Chapters were relatively short and the text was easy to understand, which is what I appreciated the most out of the book. I have a linear preference when I'm reading history books (so I discovered), which is how the author organized his material.

It also fostered an interest in wanting to read more books about England, and I became interested in studying more about Anne Boleyn and Winston Churchill. I also would like to read more books that cover England history, preferably those that are longer and have more detail.

Overall, a very informative book and was enjoyable at times.

Demasiado superficial.

A very brief and chatty history of England (not Great Britain, so no Scotland, Ireland, or Wales). Informational, yet doesn't bog you down with dates. Focus was on politics, not monarchy, so after William III the book discusses Parliament and the Prime Ministers with occasional mentions of a monarch. Also, I would have loved some maps, especially in the early centuries and as a non-Brit.

Apart from the (somewhat hilarious) arrogance of Jenkins' assertion in the introduction to this book that "England's history, its triumphs and disasters, must be the most consistently eventful of any nation on earth", this is a very interesting and enjoyable read. I picked this up because I wanted both to improve my knowledge of English history (which, admittedly, is fascinating) and because I wanted to get a better sense of how the bits of knowledge I already possess fit together in a broader narrative context. This book certainly fulfills both of those expectations.

While the final third was a bit too heavy on party politics for my personal set of interests, I very much enjoyed reading about the history of the English monarchy, the development of civil rights, and the seemingly endless cycle of English civil conflict, revolution, and warfare, the latter dominated by an amusingly persistent animosity against France.

In short, this is a great read for anyone who wants an introduction to, or a refresher on, English history.

Short indeed and concise, Jenkins paints a well structured overview of the history of England. His use of personal accounts in quotes helps hugely in bringing the very stringent narrative to life.
His view on certain matters takes on a somewhat condescending quality, though, and he doesn't question any of the events discussed much.

All in all, it is well executed but content wise rather uninventive.

This covers the history of England as far back as 600s AD. It then moves briskly through mostly political events and their effects on the nation. I, personally, really enjoyed the writing and found its brevity and clarity a breath of fresh air among the many dense, elongated books of its type. My biggest fear going in would be that the bias of the author would be too great for this to be an accurate history, particularly when discussing the post-war era, but I think the author did an extremely good job removing his views (though I think they came through once or twice). Another tactic this book used to be readable was its inclusion of funny/shocking details about the main players at times, thereby lightening the mood. The only thing I didn't quite understand was the split of Ireland from the UK, though I think the author may have deftly swept away much ranting by discussing it so ambiguously. While not the end-all be-all, this book presented me with a good overview of major political events, thereby providing some sorely needed context when reading about British politics.