The History of England by a Partial, Prejudiced and Ignorant Historian

by Austen, Jane

Biography: royalty

Published 17/04/2025 by Penguin Books Ltd (Penguin Classics) in the United Kingdom as part of the Penguin Archive series.

Paperback | 128 pages

90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksDuring his reign, Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I forget what for. In Jane Austen’s breezy and entirely biased telling of English history, Mary, Queen of Scots is a scandalously wronged victim, Elizabeth I is a wicked villain and most historical facts and dates are cheerfully disregarded. It is accompanied here by other riotous early pieces in which young women steal money, escape from prison, agree to marry two men at once, faint and repeatedly ‘run mad’.