Did you like to study History in school?
Despite providing information regarding the different eons in time, I had found the History text books to be extremely drab. But whenever I read any book of history apart from the prescribed textbooks, I love them. One of such fun books is this one, The History of England by Jane Austen. Yes, Jane Austen, our favorite writer of Pride and Prejudice wrote a satirical account which pokes fun at the widely used school history textbook such as Oliver Goldsmith's 1771 The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II.
The work is a burlesque attempt at writing by the Austen sisters, long before the days of Sense and Sensibility or Emma. To them it was sort of a family project as the book was illustrated with coloured portraits by Austen's elder sister Cassandra, to whom the work is dedicated.
It irritated Jane extremely that the history books had ignored the queens completely while focusing on the monarchs. So, her entries focused on royal women, such as Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, and Mary, Queen of Scots to a great length.
It's a tiny book of around 60 pages or so but the hilarious punch the book provides is awesome. Austen had always used her wit and dry humor to mock and ridicule the societal norms and here also I was constantly smiling at the dramatic yet funny take on the royalties by her.
If you are a fan of Jane Austen and the British sovereign, you just can't miss this little book.
Thank you @netgalley for this book.

A lovely concise history of England + a look at Austen’s letters. Really enjoyable, short and informative read. Engagingly written.

Before Pride and Prejudice, Before Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen dabbles in history and short stories in her Juvenilia during her teenage years. Sharp, satirical and honestly quite humorous, Jane Austen shapes The History of England through her eyes and takes the reader on a short, bite-size journey that is a joy to read, cover to cover.

Jane Austen's The History of England truly shows how much a satirist our beloved Regency novelist was and changes perspectives on her more well-known novels as to how she is writing about English society. This novella is a must-read for any Janeites out there as well as anyone wanting a starting point to dive into Austen's work.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dover Publications for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sharp, Satiric, delightful. Jane Austen is even wittier here than in her more well-known works. I so enjoyed this glimpse into Jane's youthful writings and humor. While this amounts to the same as a recital held for one's parents in one's own living room- it is Austen's writing that truly sets this apart. We all know and love Jane's tales of epic romance and ordinary gossip but here she is in true form as a satirist. I enjoyed the inclusion of the introduction as well as the letters at the end of the book.

Jane Austen, Jane Austen's The History of England Writings from Her Youth, Dover Publications, Oct 2023 .

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

The history and letters in this short volume provide a wealth of information about Jane Austen which makes an ideal background to reading her more well-known novels. The latter have largely been seen as romances, although fortunately some rereading of the works has provided them with a wider and more analytical understanding of their genre, value and contribution to English literature. Reading Austen’s history, seeing her sister’s illustrations, and then reading the three letters in the book contribute to this broader understanding of Austen’s work. At the same time, it is such fun to read this history, with its wonderful wry commentary on ideas held dear to academic historians.

Allyson D’Antonio’s editorial commentary illuminates Austen’s assertions and speculations in an Editor’s Note and a series of endnotes that explain her ideas, suggests alternative perspectives, and clarify where required. Although she refers to Austen’s impact on the romance genre, she gives Aysten credit for her addressing important themes in the period. That her canvas was a small one, D’Antonio references Austen’s work with admission that her concerns were with social class, gender inequality, education and religion, the ideas that impacted her own life.

This is such a short easy read – or is it? Yes, it takes only a small amount of time to read to the end. However, the ideas that are unearthed in this history and the letters are worth thinking about for far longer. They also enhance understanding of Austen’s adult work, adding to the enjoyment of the novels she wrote. This book is a small but elegant pleasure indeed.

This was the unknown gem in the Austen files that I never knew I wanted. It’s great! Fun to read and offers insights into the time in which it was written, as well as the history being covered.

I was in need of some comic relief and so turned to Jane Austen’s The History of England. My copy contains editor’s notes by Allyson D’Antonio which include a brief biography. These notes are useful–not just for the fact that they point out that Austen was a mere 16 (approximately) when she wrote this, but that The History of England (according to Jane Austen) was “clearly intended to provide a humorous exploration of England’s past.” It’s emphasized that it was “not written for public consumption” but was for her family–“especially her sister, Cassandra.” The history begins with Henry 4th and ends with Charles:

Henry the 4th ascended the throne of England much to his own satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin Richard the 2nd to resign it to him, & to retire for the rest of his Life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be murdered.

Jane Grey:

She declared herself displeased with being appointed Queen, and while conducting to the scaffold, she wrote a sentence in latin and another in Greek on seeing the dead Body of her Husband accidentally passing that way.

I’m glad I read the intro first as then I could appreciate certain parts:

“A teenage Austen seems to have developed a soft spot for the Catholic causes,” even though, or perhaps because, she was the daughter of a Church of England cleric. The editor notes that Austen’s “papal sympathies may have been a genuine interest or a rebellious act.”

This ‘soft spot’ becomes ragingly obvious when Jane gets to Elizabeth I, “that pest of society,”-whose cardinal and unforgivable sin was being the “murderer of her Cousin” Mary Stuart (It was a shitty thing to do IMO). Illustrations are by Cassandra Austen.

review copy