Picture of author.

Christopher Hibbert (1924–2008)

Author of The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall

85+ Works 12,597 Members 155 Reviews 17 Favorited

About the Author

Christopher Hibbert: March 5, 1924 -- December 21, 2008 Historian Christopher Hibbert was born as Arthur Raymond Hibbert in Enderby, England in 1924. He dropped out of Oriel College to join the Army. He served with the London Irish Rifles and won the Military Cross. He earned a degree in history in show more 1948. Before becoming a full-time nonfiction writer, he worked as a real estate agent and a television critic for Truth magazine. He wrote more than 60 books throughout his lifetime including The Road to Tyburn (1957), Il Duce: The Life of Benito Mussolini(1962), George IV: Prince of Wales, 1762-1811 (1972), and George IV: Regent and King, 1812-1830 (1973). Hibbert was awarded the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1962 for The Destruction of Lord Raglan. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Geographical Society, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the University of Leicester. He died from bronchial pneumonia on December 21, 2008 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Christopher Hibbert circa 1974

Series

Works by Christopher Hibbert

Tower of London (1971) 401 copies
Victoria: A Biography (2000) 400 copies
The London Encyclopedia (1983) — Editor — 391 copies
Cities and Civilisations (1987) 381 copies
The Great Mutiny (1978) 334 copies
The Story of England (1961) 325 copies
Nelson: A Personal History (1994) 255 copies
Versailles (1971) 184 copies
London characters and crooks (1995) — Editor — 182 copies
Agincourt (1964) 179 copies
Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (1984) — Editor — 104 copies
The Recollections of Rifleman Harris (1848) — Editor — 101 copies
Waterloo (1774) 94 copies
The Search for King Arthur (1562) 93 copies
The Grand Tour (1600) 90 copies
Twilight of Princes (1970) 73 copies
The Emperors of China (1920) 72 copies
The Court at Windsor (1964) 67 copies
Corruna (1961) 66 copies
Anzio the Bid for Rome (1970) 65 copies
Mussolini (1963) 65 copies
Arnhem (Great Battles) (1962) 59 copies
Greville's England (1981) — Editor — 50 copies
The Pen and the Sword (1974) 46 copies
Chateaux of the Loire (1982) 41 copies
Life in Victorian England (2016) 38 copies
The Road to Tyburn (1957) 38 copies
King Arthur (1969) 36 copies
The Encyclopaedia of Oxford (1988) 35 copies
The Popes (1982) 35 copies
London's Churches (1988) 26 copies
Disraeli and His World (1978) 21 copies
Edward: The Uncrowned King (1972) 20 copies
A Guide to Royal London (1987) 16 copies
Highwaymen (1967) 9 copies

Associated Works

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) — Introduction, some editions — 36,419 copies
The Life of Samuel Johnson; Abridged (1952) — Editor, some editions — 462 copies
Travels through France and Italy (1766) — Introduction, some editions — 198 copies
Captain Gronow: His Reminiscences of Regency and Victorian Life, 1810-60 (1880) — Editor, some editions — 18 copies
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 1993 (1993) — Author "Marston Moor" and "Marston Moor Today" — 14 copies

Tagged

18th century (310) 19th century (704) biography (923) Britain (170) British (409) British history (273) British literature (481) Charles Dickens (201) classic (1,404) classic literature (227) classics (1,544) Dickens (381) ebook (222) England (665) English (209) English History (162) English literature (473) fiction (3,328) Folio Society (464) France (653) French Revolution (1,009) historical (185) historical fiction (735) history (2,626) Italian History (171) Italy (472) Kindle (228) literature (963) London (500) military history (171) non-fiction (728) novel (628) own (166) Paris (292) read (342) Renaissance (197) to-read (1,789) travel (162) unread (219) Victorian (294)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

A brilliant exercise in conciseness. The full history of England in less than 200 pages, including lots of illustrations. A very traditional history of monarchs and politicians but the author gets it all in. If you were revising for an appearance on University Challenge this would be in the reading list.
 
Flagged
Steve38 | 9 other reviews | Feb 7, 2024 |
I really enjoyed this. It's really a grown up version of H.E. Marshall's, Our Island Story, which I've read with my children many times over the years.

Funniest bit: imagining not one but TWO kings being reported in history as having rolled around chomping on the straw floor in a rage. Bit spoilt?

Biggest disagreement: Page 115 states "Bloody" Mary wasn't actually cruel by nature: "Obstinate and narrow-minded, she knew her way to God and could not conceive that there might be some other way. Men and women had to suffer for their refusal to accept it, not to be punished but to be saved." Sounds like Mary's been reading the Koran.

Biggest annoyance: I'm not sure what happened with the end of this book---maybe they got sick of editing? Chapter 10 reads like a completely different author---run on sentences a paragraph long! Very distracting...but it soon goes back to normal, only to pick it up again in the last few pages of ch. 11. How weird?

Most Thought-Provoking Bit: "'It was only yesterday,' exclaims one of Thackeray's characters, 'but what a gulf between now and then. Then was the old world. Stage-coaches, more or less swift riding horses, packhorses, highwaymen... But your railroad starts a new era... We who lived before railways and survive out of the ancient world, are like Father Noah and his family out of the Ark.'" Funny---this is the same sentiment I have about being part of the partial generation that is old enough to have grown up without Internet but is young enough to have it play a significant part of our career and daily life.

I'll hold on to this as I'm sure I'll be wanting to read it again in 8-10 years or so.
… (more)
 
Flagged
classyhomemaker | 9 other reviews | Dec 11, 2023 |
Exactly what the title says. It is a biography of Florence from 59BC to 1992. It touches on most of the high points and gives a decent overview of the growth and power holders of the city. Florence is beautiful and this is a good beginner history of the city.
 
Flagged
everettroberts | 5 other reviews | Oct 20, 2023 |
Kinda boring, and more than a little confusing due to the re-use of several names (5 Lorenzos and 5 Giovanis!). Including a family tree would have been a smart move.
 
Flagged
blueskygreentrees | 24 other reviews | Jul 30, 2023 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Edward Hibbert Contributor, Editor
Harold Acton Foreword
jr Edwin D. Bayrd Associate Editor
Janet Czarnetzki Art Director
Phyllis Auty Contributor
Ursula Sieger Illustrator
Pauline Adams Contributor
Lucy Aitchison Contributor
Stephen Ashley Contributor
Brigid Allen Contributor
Gerald Aylmer Contributor
Juliet Brightmore Researcher, Contributor
D. J. Montier Contributor
Ulf Gyllenhak Translator
E. J. Willson Contributor
James Howson Contributor
Ann Ducker Contributor
Mary P. G. Draper Contributor
Tessa Street Contributor
Lucy Dargue Contributor
James Bull Contributor
A. D. Croft Contributor
C. W. Harrison Contributor
Jeremy Cotton Contributor
Margery M. Smith Contributor
C. A. Cornish Contributor
J. A. R. Clench Contributor
Hilary Burr Contributor
Nichlas Boyarsky Contributor
Norman H. Nail Contributor
C. B. O'Beirne Contributor
Sarah Good Contributor
J. S. Golland Contributor
Alicia Salter Contributor
Jennifer Hewlett Contributor
C. W. Plant Contributor
Gabrielle Harris Contributor
R. D. Abbot Contributor
Patricia Pratt Contributor
James Howgego Contributor
Cecilia Hull Contributor
Brian D. Evans Contributor
Margaret Mair Contributor
Frances Hawes Contributor
Esther Eisenthal Contributor
Edmund Street Contributor
Ruth Salmon Contributor
R. A. M. Scott Contributor
John Selmon Contributor
Philip Shelbourne Contributor
Joanna Sheppard Contributor
Ann Strawson Contributor
Veronica Steel Contributor
Allyce Tessier Contributor
Fiona Rutherford Contributor
E. E. Vella Contributor
Priscilla Waller Contributor
Joan Weinreb Contributor
Godfrey Whitelock Contributor
F. J. Whyler Contributor
Gwen Wilcox Contributor
Audrey Wild Contributor
Emma Woodcraft Contributor
A. J. Salmon Contributor
R. F. Farmer Contributor
Vivienne McAuliffe Contributor
Kenneth Gay Contributor
Colin Glover Contributor
A. N. Harrisson Contributor
R. M. Burton Contributor
Winifred M. Heard Contributor
Kate Hibbert Contributor
Susan Hibbert Contributor
Penny Howman Contributor
Phyllis McDougall Contributor
Therese Pollen Contributor
Dawn Marriott Contributor
A. L. J. Matthews Contributor
Margaret Mundy Contributor
Paddy Musgrove Contributor
Stanley Newens Contributor
B. N. Nunns Contributor
Archie Onslow Contributor
Francis Pollen Contributor
Julia Elton Contributor
Jane Bowen Contributor
Margaret Cox Contributor
Peter Clark Contributor
Paul Clayden Contributor
Peter Clayton Contributor
Paul Clifford Contributor
Cecil Clutton Contributor
John W. Collier Contributor
J. T. Cooper Contributor
Mary Cosh Contributor
William Daniell Cover artist
Patricia Clarke Contributor
Eric de Mare Contributor
Keith Fletcher Contributor
Caroline Francis Contributor
W. H. Gelder Contributor
Edwin Green Contributor
Michael Hallett Contributor
T.O. Haunch Contributor
Humphrey Wynn Contributor
Mary Clark Contributor
Mary Boast Contributor
D.O. Pam Contributor
Jenny Hartley Contributor
David Owen Contributor
Donald Rumbelow Contributor
Peter A. Clayton Contributor
Michael Wilcox Contributor
Nancy Clark Contributor
James Leasor Contributor
Henry Law Contributor
Hugh Walker Contributor
John Turner Contributor
Mervyn Blatch Contributor
B. T. White Contributor
Jan Reid Contributor
Matthew Weinreb Photographer
W. F. Bynum Contributor
Ann Saunders Contributor
Francis Sheppard Contributor
Ann Arnold Contributor
Keith Bailey Contributor
James Mosley Contributor
Alan Piper Contributor
Robert Oakley Contributor
E.G. Heath Contributor
Angela Perkins Contributor
Richard Jeffree Contributor
Erica Griffiths Contributor
Gerald Heath Contributor
Frank Sainsbury Contributor
R. N. G. Rowland Contributor
A. H. Cox Contributor
Bob Smyth Contributor
Clare Segal Contributor
John A. Prichard Contributor
K. R. Pearce Contributor
Geoffrey Hewlett Contributor
J. C. M. Shaw Contributor
Ron Woollacott Contributor
B.R. Curle Contributor
Laurence Gilliam Contributor
J. W. Green Contributor
Bernard Nurse Contributor
Colm Kerrigan Contributor
Jacqueline Fortey Contributor
Heather Waddell Contributor
Jane Kimber Contributor
Valerie Hope Contributor
Mary O'Connor Contributor
Anthony Shaw Contributor
Sonia Kinahan Contributor
Victor Belcher Contributor
Paul Hodges Contributor
Douglas Cluett Contributor
Andrea Cameron Contributor
Peter Hounsell Contributor
Julian Watson Contributor
Richard Bowden Contributor
Ann Cottingham Contributor
Wulf H. Bergner Translator

Statistics

Works
85
Also by
7
Members
12,597
Popularity
#1,856
Rating
3.9
Reviews
155
ISBNs
398
Languages
16
Favorited
17

Charts & Graphs