Customer Reviews:
 Yet more errors November 19, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Along with G Meehan I find the errors irritating having found two more in the first 24 pages.
One is often repeated and may be considered trivial by many - the line from Gray's Elegy (page 18)
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
True, several websites print this version but they may well be just
copies of other sites.
Reputable poetry sites and Oxford University's Gray archive print the version that also appears in the Oxford Book of English Verse:
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
Yes, it does seem odd, but if that's what Gray wrote, that's what should appear.
The editors at the publishers, if not the author, should be capable of spotting this.
A far less trivial error is the statment on page 21 that Terry Pratchett was born in 1945.
If so,why did he and thousands of his fans wait until 2008 to celebrate his 60th birthday?
His being 63 all of a sudden is certainly something I never knew about England.
Haven't gone any further than page 24 but fear the worst if I do. With basic errors such as this how can we trust any statement in the book without looking it up?
Despite the celebrity commendations, think twice before buying.I'm thinking of returning it.
 A compenium of the obscure and the quaint! November 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My wife and I bought this book as a gift for someone - and we've joked that we'll be borrowing it back soon so we can look at it again!
Divided into local areas, the book gives potted histories on towns and points out the local claims to fame - especially if they tend to be a bit weird! It's contains illustrations and is very well laid out. 'Local Celebrities' are detailed, though they often turn out to be sinister type!
In a nutshell: If you travel a lot in England then this is one of those great reads which can charge up your knowledge of the localities you visit. It's by learning about the history and unique aspects of England that make you appreciate it, and love it more. By capturing the quirkiness - it captures the spirit of the places featured. Other reviewers have mentioned inaccuracies in the book, this is a shame, and I hope that future editions iron out those mistakes - but never-the-less, it's still an entertaining, light-hearted, yet illuminating read.
 Very interesting but a bit disappointed at first glance... December 18, 2007
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
Just got this as a Christmas present for someone, and looking through, it makes a very interesting read, with lots of unusual and entertaining nuggets of information and facts. The illustrations are good too.
However I was a bit disappointed to find 3 mistakes in the space of as many pages when I looked at my own local area (Suffolk), which could have been corrected by anyone with Google and an extra 30 seconds to check each one... It was Sir Robert Watson-Watt who was instrumental in the development of RADAR at Bawdsey just before WW2 (not Robin), it's the River Deben (not Debden), and Grimston Hall is in Trimley St Martin (not the adjacent parish of Trimley St Mary). Which just makes me slightly question the veracity of the rest of the book. But it's still a good read, and probably the rest of it's all true!
 Informative - obscure facts about England August 7, 2006
117 out of 121 found this review helpful
What a great read . Loads of interesting,obscure & little known facts about England.
There is a section on each English county & some of the towns & cities therein. The book covers each county's "claims to fame" (many of which were unknown to me - really interesting & enlightening) along with other fascinating historical snippets.
Dip in & out or read straight through, either way it's an entertaining & informative book.
It's the kind of book they must get pub quiz questions from !!
As the previous reviewer points out,a really excellent stocking filler - real value & a true "find" .
Top quality.
This is what makes England so special January 3, 2006
134 out of 140 found this review helpful
I found this book to be a brilliant stocking filler, a really good 'toilet' read. I flicked through it at first, searching for locations from my childhood and teens, such as places I had visited on family holidays, etc. However, after an initial trawl I read it over a period of about 36 hours. There is not a place in England that doesn't have some obscure fact related to it.A bloody good book, highly recommended.
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