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Christopher Hibbert (1924–2008)

Author of The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall

85+ Works 12,299 Members 152 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

Victoria: A Biography (2000) 392 copies
Tower of London (1971) 389 copies
The London Encyclopedia (1983) — Editor — 382 copies
Cities and Civilisations (1987) 375 copies
The Great Mutiny (1978) 323 copies
The Story of England (1961) 314 copies
Nelson: A Personal History (1994) 251 copies
Versailles (1971) 178 copies
London characters and crooks (1995) — Editor — 177 copies
Agincourt (1964) 175 copies
The Recollections of Rifleman Harris (1848) — Editor — 99 copies
Queen Victoria in Her Letters and Journals (1984) — Editor — 99 copies
The Search for King Arthur (1562) 93 copies
The Grand Tour (1600) 89 copies
Waterloo (1774) 84 copies
Twilight of Princes (1970) 72 copies
The Emperors of China (1920) 71 copies
The Court at Windsor (1964) 66 copies
Anzio the Bid for Rome (1970) 65 copies
Corunna (Great Battles) (1884) 65 copies
Mussolini (1963) 63 copies
Arnhem (Great Battles) (1962) 58 copies
Greville's England (1981) — Editor — 51 copies
The Pen and the Sword (1974) 45 copies
Chateaux of the Loire (1982) 42 copies
The Road to Tyburn (1957) 38 copies
The Encyclopaedia of Oxford (1988) 35 copies
The Popes (1982) 35 copies
Life in Victorian England (2016) 35 copies
King Arthur (1969) 33 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 — 35,745 copies
The Life of Samuel Johnson; Abridged (1952) — Editor, some editions — 461 copies
Travels through France and Italy (1766) — Introduction, some editions — 195 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 (300) 19th century (686) biography (890) Britain (164) British (403) British history (263) British literature (478) Charles Dickens (196) classic (1,391) classic literature (221) classics (1,482) Dickens (379) ebook (212) England (643) English (210) English History (156) English literature (462) fiction (3,255) Folio Society (462) France (634) French Revolution (985) historical (183) historical fiction (698) history (2,555) Italian History (162) Italy (453) Kindle (208) literature (946) London (490) military history (162) non-fiction (713) novel (617) own (161) Paris (280) read (334) Renaissance (193) to-read (1,650) travel (162) unread (212) Victorian (288)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

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.
 
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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.
 
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blueskygreentrees | 24 other reviews | Jul 30, 2023 |
34. [144758::Florence: The Biography of a City] by [[Christopher Hibbert]]
OPD: 1993
format: illustrated 383-page paperback
acquired: 2000 (in Florence?) read: May 22-29 time reading: 18:45, 3.0 mpp
rating: 3
genre/style: popular history theme: Italy
about the author: 1924-2008, English popular historian and WWII veteran, born in Enderby, Leicestershire.

So, we bought this Florence, on our honeymoon. 22.5 years later I finally have read it (shortly before we return). It's... ok. Very 1990's in style and mindset. A little tough to read, a little fact heavy and dry. The notes are designed to help guide you through places, but this book is physically gigantic and really impractical to carry around for that. So, the notes are merely hard to read. But the book captures a bit of everything and the history here is fascinating. The book has its moments. It was the right book for me. Struggling to get caught up in any book, I was able to press on through this and even look forward to getting back to it when I set it down.

2023
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348551#8155374
… (more)
 
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dchaikin | 5 other reviews | Jun 15, 2023 |
This is a well researched analysis of the first 30 or so years of Dickens's life, tracing the links between the early events in his life and his developing literary approach. Much of this is material I have seen covered in other books, but Hibbert shows how repeated patterns come up, such as strong brother-sister relationships being seen as more ideal than husband-wife ones, reflecting in particular his close and, to modern eyes, bizarre, relationship with his sister in law Mary Hogarth who died so suddenly and so tragically young; and the repeated ripples of assertions of self confidence in later life reflecting the knock back Dickens suffered after his initial schooling in Chatham when he had to work in the infamous blacking warehouse on the site of what is now Charing Cross station. Much of Dickens's life and attitudes towards his own progress and relations with others seems to demonstrate an absolute imperative to avoid the feckless attitudes and precarious economic situation of his father John Dickens whom he had continually to bale out for the reminder of the latter's life. This is fascinating stuff though I did think Hibbert perhaps went slightly too far into Dickens's middle life to suit the title.… (more)
½
 
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john257hopper | 1 other review | Jun 2, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

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

Statistics

Works
85
Also by
7
Members
12,299
Popularity
#1,903
Rating
3.9
Reviews
152
ISBNs
396
Languages
15
Favorited
17

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