D. M. Field

Normally, I wouldn't have checked this out, because it is only 32 pages. But the Victor Ambrus illustrations are quite good and Eric the Red gets too few biographies compared to his son, Leif the Lucky. It's remarkable how many fights and murders are crowded into these 32 pages. The horse that throws Eric near the end has some good musculature.

This is an excellent little book by a writer who clearly knows his subject. The notes on the back cover begin "It is often forgotten that in the early nineteenth century, before the arrival of the railways that were the foundation of Victorian Britain's prosperity, the country [the UK] had the fastest and most efficient form of public overland transport the world had ever seen ...".

Long-distance stagecoaches - vehicles that followed a regular schedule carrying fee-paying passengers - date show more from 1660 but were uncommon before the late eighteenth century. The introduction of mail-coaches in 1784 stimulated dramatic improvements and the coaching age reached its peak in the early 1830s and, within a decade, was in rapid and terminal decline, having been rendered obsolete by the railways.

The state of the nation's roads was fundamental to the success of stagecoaches and mail-coaches and became an important source of revenue for innkeepers who ran the coaching inns. People in small towns were able to set their time-pieces by the reliability of the mail-coach. This book tells the story of what travel was like for those who could afford it and of how the business was conducted.

As with most of the Shire Library, it's well illustrated, but an index would have improved the book. show less

It's 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches; it fits in your pocket or the palm of your hand; it tells you what you need to know about every British sovereign, with plentiful pictures. Why was James I also James VI? What made Ethelred Unready? Who were "the Maypole" and "the Elephant"? All lies within these little covers. It is a great portable, lightweight history of 20 centuries. For a tourist going into monarchic overload at Britain's many castles, churches, portraits and monuments, this is perfect.

Even though it is nearly 40 years old, the information in the book is still good. Every page has one of two brief articles about a different topic. Even if brief, there are lots of details in it. The issues are unique and can pique the interest of the curious mind to learn more.