Our list of some of the best English History books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
- The English and Their History (2016)
- The Birth of Britain: A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 1 (2005)
- History of Britain and Ireland (2013)
- The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language (2011)
- A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: A One-Volume Abridgement (2011)
- A History of the English Language (2012)
- Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) (2016)
- Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, Combined Volume (2012)
- History of Britain and Ireland (2013)
- A History of France from the Earliest Times to the Treaty of Versailles (2014)
- English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable (2006)
- Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (2018)
- Tudor History: A Captivating Guide to the Tudors, the Wars of the Roses, the Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Life of Elizabeth I (2019)
- The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (2007)
- Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (2009)
The English and Their History (2016)
The English first materialized as an idea, before they had a common ruler and before the country they lived in even had a name.
The Birth of Britain: A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Vol. 1 (2005)
The Birth of Britain is the first volume of A History of the English Speaking Peoples, the immensely popular and eminently readable four-volume work by Winston Churchill.
History of Britain and Ireland (2013)
From the Roman conquest of 43 CE to the Norman conquest of 1066, and from the Elizabethan age to the Iraq and Afghan wars of the 21st century, DK’s History of Britain and Ireland traces the key events that have shaped Great Britain and Ireland from earliest times to the present day.
The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language (2011)
Here is the riveting story of the English language, from its humble beginnings as a regional dialect to its current preeminence as the one global language, spoken by more than two billion people worldwide. In this groundbreaking book, Melvyn Bragg shows how English conquered the world.
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: A One-Volume Abridgement (2011)
The definitive, one-volume abridgment by Christopher Lee.An authoritative survey of the history of English-speaking peoples throughout the world combines intriguing, closely observed biographical profiles—of Alfred the Great, Victoria, Joan of Arc, Lincoln, and other notables—with an account of the key events and issues of the era.
A History of the English Language (2012)
A History of the English Language explores the linguistic and cultural development of English from the Roman conquest of England to the present day to provide a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of its history.
Everything You Need to Ace American History in One Big Fat Notebook: The Complete Middle School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) (2016)
It’s the revolutionary American history study guide just for middle school students from the brains behind Brain Quest. Everything You Need to Ace American History . . . covers Native Americans to the war in Iraq.
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources, Combined Volume (2012)
Ways of the World is one of the most successful and innovative new textbooks for world history in recent years. This 2-in-1 textbook and reader includes a brief-by-design narrative that is truly global and focuses on significant historical trends, themes, and developments in world history. Author Robert W.
History of Britain and Ireland (2013)
From the Roman conquest of 43 CE to the Norman conquest of 1066, and from the Elizabethan age to the Iraq and Afghan wars of the 21st century, DK’s History of Britain and Ireland traces the key events that have shaped Great Britain and Ireland from earliest times to the present day.
A History of France from the Earliest Times to the Treaty of Versailles (2014)
This is a comprehensive history of France from the beginning to the end of World War I. From the preface: “This book was originally intended for members of the American army who naturally would desire to know something of the past of the great French nation on whose soil they expected to do battle for Liberty.
English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable (2006)
Here at last is a history of England that is designed to entertain as well as inform and that will delight the armchair traveler, the tourist or just about anyone interested in history. No people have engendered quite so much acclaim or earned so much censure as the English: extolled as the Athenians of modern times, yet hammered for their self-satisfaction and hypocrisy.
Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation (2018)
Centuries on, what the Reformation was and what it accomplished remain deeply contentious. Peter Marshall’s sweeping new history—the first major overview for general readers in a generation—argues that sixteenth-century England was a society neither desperate for nor allergic to change, but one open to ideas of “reform” in various competing guises.
Tudor History: A Captivating Guide to the Tudors, the Wars of the Roses, the Six Wives of Henry VIII and the Life of Elizabeth I (2019)
Five Tudor monarchs sat on the throne of England and Ireland from 1485 to 1603. The family earned their royal rights through strategic planning and battlefield prowess, and kept them because of intellect, strength and sheer determination. The Tudors, one of England’s most powerful and famous royal dynasties, knitted together a fragmented and small island nation that became one of the world’s financial, colonial and technological superpowers.
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic–and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (2007)
A National Bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book, and an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year It’s the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal, clean water, sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure.
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (2009)
Why do we say “I am reading a catalog” instead of “I read a catalog”? Why do we say “do” at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values?
Best English History Books that Should be on Your Bookshelf
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some english history books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Inns of Court under Elizabeth I and the Early Stuarts: 1590–1640
Author(s): Wilfrid R. Prest
ID: 3629397, Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 2023, Size: 2 Mb, Format: pdf
An English Tradition?: The History and Significance of Fair Play
Author(s): Jonathan Duke-Evans
ID: 3647409, Publisher: Oxford University Press, Year: 2023, Size: 7 Mb, Format: epub
African-American English : structure, history, and use
Author(s): Salikoko S. Mufwene (editor); Guy Bailey (editor); John Baugh (editor); John R. Rickford (editor)
ID: 3108345, Publisher: , Year: 2022, Size: 8 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not errorless. Some books are truly chart-busters according to The New York Times, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant resources you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.