In chapter 9 of Norms & Nobility, A curriculum Proposal, David Hicks spends time laying out a vision of what the particulars of an education in the great tradition could look like. He carefully lays out possibilities for history, literature, science and math, fine arts, and more. It was in these pages that I first learned about The History of the English Speaking People by Winston Churchill. I was surprised at first. I did not expect to see history books written by Winston Churchill. My only exposure to this man was through the Dave Ramsey show (don’t laugh). For those of you who do not know, Dave Ramsey is a huge fan of Winston Churchill and quotes him often.
I immediately looked up the volumes and was troubled to find that the 4 volume series was very difficult to find. I did finally discover it through Biblio.com for a decent price but it was a bit extra work. There was a one volume abridgment readily available on amazon and other book stores but I was curious to know how it measured up. I knew I wanted to use this series for my homeschool and the classes I would teach, but was unsure if I should ask students and parents to go to the extra work of securing the 4 volumes when a 1 volume abridgment may do. Nevertheless, I wanted to be sure. It was that curiosity which led me to complete this project.
Here is my comparison of Winston Churchill’s complete 4 volumes with Christopher Lee’s One-Volume Abridgment.
[box] Key
In the Abridged Version (seemingly in its entirety)
Not in the Abridged Version at all
In the abridged version, but shorten and combined with other chapters
~The dates that approximately correlate with each chapter [/box]
VOLUME ONE – THE BIRTH OF BRITAIN
Book 1: The Island Race
ch 01 Britannia ~ 55 BC
ch 02 Subjugation ~ 41-78 AD
ch 03 The Roman Province ~ 120-350 AD
ch 04 The Lost Island ~ 400-550 AD
ch 05 England ~ 630-800 AD
ch 06 The Vikings ~ 730-880 AD
ch 07 Alfred the Great ~ 870-900 AD
ch 08 The Saxon Dusk ~ 920-1050 AD
Book 2: The Making of the Nation
ch 09 The Norman Invasion ~ 1047-1066
ch 10 William the Conqueror ~ 1066-1087
ch 11 Growth Amid Turmoil ~ 1095-1153
ch 12 Henry Plantagenet ~ 1154-1189
ch 13 The English Common Law ~ 1154-1250
ch 14 Coeur de Lion ~ 1190-1199
ch 15 Magna Carta ~ 1202-1215
ch 16 On the Anvil ~ 1216-1252
ch 17 The Mother of Parliaments ~ 1259-1272
ch 18 King Edward I ~ 1292-1305
ch 19 Bannockburn ~ 1314-1324
ch 20 Scotland and Ireland ~ 1296-1452
ch 21 The Long-Bow ~ 1327-1346
ch 22 The Black Death ~ 1355-1376
Book 3: The End of the Feudal Age
ch 23 King Richard II and the Social Revolt ~ 1377-1399
ch 24 The Usurpation of Henry Bolingbroke ~ 1401-1413
ch 25 The Empire of Henry V ~ 1414-1415
ch 26 Joan of Arc ~ 1422-1431
ch 27 York and Lancaster ~ 1431-1454
ch 28 The Wars of the Roses ~ 1455-1468
ch 29 The Adventures of Edward IV ~ 1470-1478
ch 30 Richard III ~ 1484-1485
VOLUME TWO – THE NEW WORLD
Book 4: Renaissance and Reformation
ch 01 The Round World ~ 1450-1497
ch 02 The Tudor Dynasty ~ 1485-1489
ch 03 King Henry VIII ~ 1477-1513
ch 04 Cardinal Wolsey ~ 1515-1529
ch 05 The Break with Rome ~ 1530-1536
ch 06 The End of the Monasteries ~ 1536-1545
ch 07 The Protestant Struggle ~ 1549-1558
ch 08 Good Queen Bess ~ 1558-1587
ch 09 The Spanish Armada ~ 1573-1588
ch 10 Gloriana ~ 1600-1603
Book 5: The Civil War
ch 11 The United Crowns ~ 1604-1621
ch 12 The Mayflower ~ 1606-1640
ch 13 Charles I and Buckingham ~ 1628-1629
ch 14 The Personal Rule ~ 1628-1640
ch 15 The Revolt of Parliament ~ 1640-1642
ch 16 The Great Rebellion ~ 1642-1644
ch 17 Marston Moor and Naseby ~ 1644-1645
ch 18 The Axe Falls ~ 1645-1648
Book 6: The Restoration
ch 19 The English Republic ~ 1649
ch 20 The Lord Protector ~ 1653-1658
ch 21 The Restoration ~ 1657-1660
ch 22 The Merry Monarch ~ 1660-1672
ch 23 The Popish Plot ~ 1673-1679
ch 24 Whig and Tory ~ 1680-1685
ch 25 The Catholic King ~ 1685-1687
ch 26 The Revolution of ~ 1688-1688
VOLUME THREE – THE AGE OF REVOLUTION
Book 7: England’s Advance to World Power
ch 01 William of Orange ~ 1672-1690
ch 02 Continental War ~ 1692-1700
ch 03 The Spanish Succession ~ 1698-1702
ch 04 Marlborough: Blenheim and Ramillies ~ 1702-1706
ch 05 Oudenarde and Malplaquet ~ 1702-1709
ch 06 The Treaty of Utrecht ~ 1710-1714
Book 8: The First British Empire
ch 07 The House of Hanover ~ 1714-1721
ch 08 Sir Robert Walpole ~ 1717-1741
ch 09 The Austrian Succession and the “Forty-Five” ~ 1740-1751
ch 10 The American Colonies ~ 1682-1732
ch 11 The First World War ~ 1756-1763
ch 12 The Quarrel with America ~ 1770-1775
ch 13 The War of Independence ~ 1775-1778
ch 14 The United States ~ 1777-1782
ch 15 The Indian Empire ~ 1740-1814
Book 9: Napoleon
ch 16 The Younger Pitt ~ 1782-1793
ch 17 The American Constitution ~ 1777-1789
ch 18 The French Revolution ~ 1781-1793
ch 19 France Confronted ~ 1789-1802
ch 20 Trafalgar ~ 1804-1805
ch 21 The Emperor of the French ~ 1806-1809
ch 22 The Peninsular War and the Fall of Napoleon ~ 1809-1812
ch 23 Washington, Adams, and Jefferson ~ 1793-1807
ch 24 The War of 1812 ~ 1809-1817
ch 25 Elba and Waterloo ~ 1814-1815
VOLUME FOUR – THE GREAT DEMOCRACIES
Book 10: Recovery and Reform
ch 01 The Victory Peace ~ 1815-1820
ch 02 Canning and the Duke ~ 1820-1828
ch 03 Reform and Free Trade ~ 1831-1850
ch 04 The Crimean War ~ 1848-1864
ch 05 Palmerston ~ 1855-1868
ch 06 The Migration of the Peoples: Canada and South Africa ~ 1814-1871
ch 07 The Migration of the Peoples: Australia and New Zealand ~ 1568-1890
Book 11: The Great Republic
ch 08 American Epic ~ 1815-1859
ch 09 Slavery and Secession ~ 1850-1859
ch 10 The Union in Danger ~ 1850-1861
ch 11 The Campaign Against Richmond ~ 1861
ch 12 Lee and McClellan ~ 1862
ch 13 Chancellorsville and Gettysburg ~ 1863-1862
ch 14 The Victory of the Union ~ 1864-1865
Book 12: The Victorian Age
ch 15 The Rise of Germany ~ 1866-1890
ch 16 Gladstone and Disraeli ~ 1868-1885
ch 17 American “Reconstruction” ~ 1863-1900
ch 18 America as a World Power ~ 1873-1900
ch 19 Home Rule for Ireland ~ 1867-1885
ch 20 Lord Salisbury’s Governments ~ 1886-1897
ch 21 The South African War ~ 1895-1902
So, what do you think? Is Lee’s One Volume Abridgment sufficient? One thought I had was it could be if you planned on adding in an extra history spine for American history. It was suggested on Ambleside Online that you do this anyway in order to encounter American History the way it ought to be encountered, at least for the American. Even if one did that, is the abridgment enough? Personally, I am leaning towards the 4 Volume Series, maybe. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts, visit the comments section to join the conversation.
Bibliography
Ambleside Online’s notes about this series (they have a much more detailed timeline of dates for each chapter than I do, definitely check it out)
A History of the English Speaking People Volumes 1-4 by Winston Churchill
A History of the English-Speaking People: A One-Volume Abridgment by Christopher Lee
If it were me I’d want the complete version, but that’s partly a personality thing. 🙂 I do think it would be interesting to read a bit about American history from the British point of view.
I agree, a British perspective on American History would be interesting for many reasons, even as a great tool for debates.
I would buy the complete, also. They may be hard to find online, but I actually see them all the time at used bookshops. The chapter on English Common Law is not to be missed! It reminded me a lot of Russell Kirk’s chapter on that in Roots of American Order. I also have to say that his perspective on William the Conqueror was much more positive than anything I’ve read before, which was just fascinating to me. I’m just now working my way through The Birth of Britain, so I can’t comment on the others, but I really love the unabridged copy I’m reading. 🙂
Thank you, that is great information to know. I can’t wait to read those chapters as well. We are at the beginning of Birth of Britain right now. I love how beautiful his book correlates with the stories we are reading in Our Island Story and Famous Men of the Middle Ages.
I know what you mean! I didn’t realize until after we started school this year that AO Year 7 corresponds to AO Y2, and I have a student in both of those, so I’m reading both BoB and the pertinent chapters of OIS at the same time, which has been a lot of fun.
Yes it is a lot of fun. That is how we choose to adapt AO. We use all the same books but I categorized the book according to time period so we could all be on the same time period.
I read Birth of Britain for myself alongside my dd’s AO Y2 history last year and really enjoyed it…hoping to read his next volume alongside her Y3 history this coming year. They are available for Kindle at about $10 per volume if print copies are hard to find reasonably priced.
Great information. Thank you Jen!
I bought the complete 4 book series. And I, too, love how Our Island Story and Birth of Britain correspond well together.
That is great. By the way Karen, I love your most recent post on your blog. Drawing flowers is so much fun.
Oh thank you so much Jennifer! I appreciate that!
My pleasure.
I already own the four volume set and would like to use it in my home school with my high school senior. Could you share a little more how you used this with your students? I’d love some ideas!