A Short History of The English People, 3 vols (1898)

Special edition in three volumes.
By John Richard Green (1837–1883) is a landmark work of historiography that shifted the focus of historical writing from kings and conquests to the social and moral progress of common people.

While the work was originally published in 1874 as a single volume, it was frequently expanded and reissued in multi-volume formats.

In 1898, several versions were available through publishers such as Macmillan and Co. and Harper & Brothers:

Edited by the author's widow, Alice Stopford Green, and Kate Norgate, it is famous for its extensive use of contemporary images, maps, and tables to "tell us how men and things appeared to the lookers-on of their own day".

While the original was a single volume, late 19th-century reprints were sometimes bound in three or four volumes to accommodate the growing text and supplemental materials like chronological annals and genealogical tables.

Green focused on the English people rather than the monarchy, highlighting the "burghers of the towns" and the development of national life.

The book was immensely successful, it remained a staple reading list item for the Workers' Education Association and early Labour MPs well into the 20th century.

The narrative typically spans from the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century through the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Vol 1 560 pages
Vol 2 561 - 1202 pages
Vol 3 1202 - 1906 pages

Woodcut and chromolithograph illustrations.
Full calf leather/ gilt edging.
Prelims foxed, edges worn.
Binding polished.
Housed in a modern slip case.

Box: 180mm x 270mm x 175mm

R3,500