British history books for children: The Georgians
This post is part of a series on the theme of incorporating more British history into Story of the World 3. You can read the overview post here.
These book suggestions are for England from the succession of George I until the beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria. They run alongside SOTW3 Chapters 21-the end and Our Island Story chapters 90-100. (Although SOTW3 technically ends after Victoria came to the throne, there is no coverage of the British Victorian era in the book).
I have included some books about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the events of Culloden here, but more ideas can be found here in my list of recommendations for Scottish history.
- General Georgian resources
- Industrialisation
- The Jacobites and Culloden
- Slavery and Abolition
- Naval history: Nelson, Napoleon and Cook
- Religion in Georgian Britain
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General Georgian resources
Emerging Empire: A Pictorial History 1689-1763
R.J. Unstead
Most of this volume of Unstead is devoted to the Georgians, as can be seen in the contents page below. There is a small section on the first Prime Minister Robert Walpole, some details on Whigs and Tories, a full page spread each on the Fifteen and the Forty-Five, and a page on Clive of India. There is also a wonderful page on ‘The Fall of Canada’ with paintings of both Montcalm and Wolfe dying valiantly on the battlefield.
This particular Unstead excels itself in the quantity and quality of social history. You can read about coffee houses, Capability Brown, the Methodists, chimney sweeps, Chippendale, and improvements to farming. It gives one a great overview of life in the Georgian era for the rich and the poor.
Freedom & Revolution: A Pictorial History 1763-1815
R.J. Unstead
I found less of use in this Unstead than in Emerging Empire, but I think that is because I had separate books to use for some of the main themes I wanted to cover (e.g. Nelson, canals). There is quite a bit here on the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.
I enjoyed the opening page on John Wilkes, of whom I had not heard. We also referred to some of the smaller topics such as Josiah Wedgwood, the Luddites, and the Spinning Jenny. As always, the pictures are excellent, and greatly aid understanding.
People in History Vol. 4: Great People of Modern Times
R. J. Unstead
A number of short biographies of interesting individuals from the Georgian era, including Bonnie Prince Charlie, General James Wolfe, Captain Cook, Clive of India, James Watt, George Stephenson, Lord Nelson and Elizabeth Fry.
Mostly line-drawn illustrations with a couple of watercolours.
The Gorgeous Georgians (Horrible Histories)
Terry Deary
Horrible Histories are a marmite sort of book (you love them or hate them), but I learned a lot from them as a child. This is a short, comic history of the Georgian period, with lots of cartoon illustrations and gory bits. There are taster snapshots of quite a lot of Georgian history in here, including enclosure, industrialisation, the early prime ministers and Rob Roy.
Industrialisation
The Story of our Canals (Ladybird)
Carolyn Hutchings
I enjoyed this Ladybird more than I expected to. The illustrations are excellent, and there is a good amount on the history of canals, including some of the engineers who built them, followed by a section on the practical operation of canals. There are also several pages on the life and culture of the boat-people who worked the canals.
The one thing I thought it was missing was some information on the lives of the Navvies who built the canals, often living and working in very difficult conditions.
The Story of Railways (Ladybird)
Richard Bowood
A history of British railways, from Trevithick right through to electrification. We also have the Usborne Story of Railways, and I much prefer this Ladybird book for its focus on the specific details of British railways. For example, the connection between the Royal Mail and the railways, and the development of branch lines. It is a book of its time…“Boys, and their fathers too, have always admired and loved railway engines”.
The Jacobites and Culloden
Bonnie Prince Charlie And All That
Allan Burnett
This series by Allan Burnett is very accessible, written in a Horrible Histories style with plenty of illustrations and comics. I was impressed with the amount of detail it contains about the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The story is a good one, and it works well in this format.
The Reluctant Rebel: A Jacobite Adventure
Barbara Henderson
More historical fiction by Barbara Henderson, this time exploring the Jacobite cause. The book opens with the Battle of Culloden, as witnessed by two children, and then their subsequent flight. There are lots of historical tidbits along the way, including the moving story of Roderick MacKenzie who was a look-alike to Bonnie Prince Charlie and possibly saved his life by masquerading as the prince even to death. A fast paced and exciting adventure story.
Slavery and Abolition
Freedom 1783
Catherine Johnson
Written from the perspective of a boy slave leaving Jamaica for England, this is a fictional account of slavery in England itself in the years before abolition. Nat experiences frequent violence at the hands of his owners, and attempts to run away. He meets Olaudah Equiano, and Frances Sancho, the daughter of Ignatius.
I appreciated this book because it gives children some exposure to the lives of slaves living in Britain itself, as well as to the Sons of Africa, and those campaigning against the slave trade. Nat’s life is relentlessly hard, but this is realistic.
My Story: Ignatius Sancho
Judy Hepburn
I really enjoyed this semi-fictitious biography of Ignatius Sancho, who was a very interesting and inspiring man. Brought to London at the age of two as a pet for a family of sisters, he learned to read and write with the help of the Duke of Montagu, a family friend. He later ran away from the sisters, and became a valet to the Montagu family, and later owned a shop in London. Ignatius Sancho was one of the first black men to vote in Britain, and wrote some very famous correspondence with the novelist Laurence Sterne, lobbying against the slave trade. He was also painted by Gainsborough!
William Wilberforce: The Freedom Fighter (Trailblazers)
Derick Bingham
A Christian biography of Wilberforce from the Trailblazers series, giving a good overview of Wilberforce’ life, and the political events leading up to the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. A book with many interesting anecdotes. For example, I didn’t know that Wilberforce and Pitt met Marie Antoinette on a holiday to France in 1783.
Naval history: Nelson, Napoleon and Cook
Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude
Louise Borden
This is a lovely book about an apparently niche historical event which was actually very important. Sailors had long been able to work out their latitude (how far north or south they were), using an astrolabe or sextant. It was much harder to calculate longitude (how far east or west), because it required accurate timekeeping and synchronisation of clocks in different locations, which was extremely difficult at sea.
This book tells the story of John Harrison, a carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer. It was by no means a straightforward task, and John went through many iterations, and overcame many obstacles, to produce his ‘sea watch’. He was a man of incredible tenacity. You can see a number of John’s beautiful chronometers in the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
It is out of print currently, but well worth putting out a search alert to see if you can get a copy at a reasonable price.
Stephen Biesty’s Cross-Sections: Man-Of-War
Stephen Biesty
This was my favourite book in the library for a good chunk of my childhood, and I borrowed it again and again! The pages of the book are very large. Each double-spread shows a different cut-through section of HMS Victory, running from bow to stern, with a vast number of notes and descriptions of different aspects of life on board ship. The book covers everything from scurvy to tattoos to signal flags. It even explains the interesting point that Nelson wished to send the message ‘England confides that every man will do his duty’ but agreed to change ‘confides’ for ‘expects’ in order to be able to signal it with one flag code rather than letter by letter.
A wonderful book for gaining a thorough understanding of life on board a naval ship in the Napoleonic wars.
Captain Cook (Usborne Young Reading)
Rebecca Levene
Usborne Young Reading are good choices for children to read to themselves, with plenty of pictures and fairly simple text. This book gives a good overview of Cook’s expeditions. There are maps at the front, and a timeline at the end.
The discussion of Cook’s final voyage and demise on Hawaii sticks to the traditional interpretation that Cook was viewed as a god by the islanders. A small point, but I would have preferred a little more explanation as to why the islanders were angry with the sailors when they returned a second time.
The Story of Nelson (Ladybird)
L. du Garde Peach
I do love the Ladybird history books. This one will give you some good coverage of the whole of Nelson’s life, from his first going to sea at the age of twelve. Every page has a beautiful watercolour illustration. It deals very sparingly with the loss of Nelson’s eye and arm, and is therefore suitable for the younger or more sensitive reader.
Nelson
Minna Lacey
A book in the Usborne Young Reading 3 series with plenty of pictures, several maps and a timeline of Nelson’s life. This is a good one for children to read themselves. It gives a good overview of the main events of Nelson’s life.
Content warning: Chapter 6 contains a one page description of the amputation of Nelson’s right arm. No gory details. There is a chapter about Lady Emma Hamilton, which doesn’t go into too much detail, but does mention that she and Nelson secretly had a baby daughter together.
Nelson: Hero of the Seas (Adventures in Time)
Dominic Sandbrook
This is a more substantial book for the older reader, perhaps age 9+. It runs to 361 pages. I only fairly recently discovered the Adventures in Time series and am a big fan. They are real history books with lots of detail, but a good narrative line running through them which keeps the reader’s interest.
Content warnings: There is a fairly gory description of the amputation of Nelson’s right arm, including details of how they stopped arterial bleeding at the time. The book spends a couple of chapters dealing with Nelson’s affair with Emma Hamilton. It is clear on the impact that this had on his wife, and how it was viewed by other people. ‘Even at the time, most people thought that Nelson had behaved appallingly.’ There follows some discussion of the fact that all men, even heroes, have weaknesses as well as strengths.
Trafalgar (Great Battles and Sieges)
Richard Balkwill
I found it very difficult to find a children’s book specifically on Trafalgar, but finally alighted on this one. The initial pages of context feel quite dense, depending on how much the reader already knows about Nelson and the Napoleonic Wars. What I really liked in this book was the unfolding of the battle across several pages, complete with map diagrams of the positions of the two fleets at various points.
The book is well illustrated with artwork, diagrams and maps. There are some interesting touches, like a quote from Nelson setting out his plans for the battle. I believe that it was jotted down from a conversation he had with Captain Richard Keats.
Waterloo (Great Battles and Sieges)
Philip Sauvain
A well-illustrated and interesting account of the Battle of Waterloo for children. It launches into the battle itself fairly rapidly, so it would be helpful for children to have some prior knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars. This book gives a thorough, blow by blow account of the battle, as well as some information about the key players Wellington and Napoleon, and Napoleon’s fate afterwards.
Religion in Georgian Britain
Elizabeth Fry (Ladybird)
L. Du Garde Peach
A Ladybird book about the famous prison reformer Elizabeth Fry. Elizabeth’s family were Quakers, and this book gives a helpful short history of the Quakers and their customs. I learned a great deal about both Elizabeth Fry and the prison system at the time. Du Garde Peche does not mince his words! ‘Though often ignored by the stupid politicians of her day, she was loved by many poor and unhappy men and women. Politicians are forgotten; she is remembered.’
John and Charles Wesley (Trailblazers)
David Luckman
A newish book in the Trailblazers series of Christian biographies for children, this one covers the lives of John and Charles Wesley, beginning with the dramatic story of John’s rescue from a fire that destroyed the family home. One for older children, as it is quite long and detailed.
