A Short History of England

Irish Times, October 13, 2011
Simon Jenkins has boldly written a unitary, continuous text, taking England as his subject. The boldness should not surprise us. He is a stellar public intellectual and the best newspaper columnist in the business: the wit, dazzle and scornful elan of his weekly Guardian pieces make them required reading... A Short History of England is intermittently enlivened by his passion for political analysis; the approach also reflects his architectural bent, as chairman of the National Trust and author of several invigorating surveys of houses and churches. The Spectator, August 27, 2011 This is traditional, kings-and-things, great-men history with all its dates and famous quotations in place ... it's jolly good ... Jenkins has a newspaper columnist's aphoristic verve. New Statesman, September 26, 2011 Full of good writing and lively anecdote... Simon Jenkins's Short History of England, published in association with the National Trust, is a hands