The Chapel - From Ur to Us - Everything you need to know about History
A uniquely readable, user-friendly, historical reference book that tells you everything you actually need to know about world history from 2,300 BC to today
In 2002 Prince Charles convened a conference, following which he said “…education has become so shallow-rooted that we now lack an understanding of our national heritage.” Others who attended the conference echoed the Prince’s depressing summary, and these complaints have followed regularly ever since.
For instance it seems that most of us no longer understand, or even know, what went on before the First World War, if we even know as far back as that awful event. What a lot we miss if that is all we know!
Hugh Williams’ From Ur to Us is a book that will go a long way to addressing this worrying problem. It has been written for both the student at school or university as well as for the home, where remembrance of what was learned at school some years ago may have become somewhat sketchy.
The book has been laid out by the author so that any user can find, mug-up or learn a whole host of historical information at one brief visit. It can be read as a narrative but it can also be used as a quick reminder or for exam revision.
Most historical reference books seem to suffer from a number of serious disadvantages:
Hugh Williams’ From Ur to Us has been designed with the user’s needs as the prime focus. In the first place it was written by the author for his own purpose. He wanted to use it for quick reference and so has deliberately designed it to be user-friendly. How?
The first unique feature is that the index is at the front, not the back. The index forms the gateway into this treasure chest of historical information. After all, if you visit the Tower of London, and let’s say you just want to visit the Bloody Tower, you will ask, as you walk in “Where is the Bloody Tower?” You will not expect to have to walk all the way to the far side of this large and fascinating site in order to find out where you want to go. You need to know where to go to find what you want as you arrive. So it is with this book, and the over 9,000 topic index is at the front.
There are four sections to this work:
Part One – World History – The Story so Far – is in refero-descriptive format. This means you can either use it as quick source of reference, or you can read it from start to finish – it would not take long to do so.
Part Two – History Notes. Over 240 topics are arranged chronologically using bullet points. This part’s format provides greater detail than Part 1 and is intended for both quick reference as well as for revision or mugging-up.
Part Three – Country by Country. In this section you will find the brief history of over 100 countries, again laid out for quick reference.
Appendices – Here you will find 17 lists, such as British Kings and Queens, Prime Ministers, family trees, etc
And you get all of this in fewer than 500 pages but it is also available in EBook format.
Hugh Williams is 66. Educated at Eton he qualified as a chartered accountant in London but decided to set up his own practice in the unusual setting of a farm on Dartmoor, where he also kept a small herd of Red Devon cattle and some Arab cross ponies.
His writing career began in 1988 with a book on Company Law, which was published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and was in print for nearly twenty years. Since then, there have since been many other publications to his name, all of which try to simplify the worlds of taxation, business administration and management.
In addition to running a business from this remote setting he and his wife, Alice, decided to teach their eldest children at home, which they did to GCSE level – Hugh even sitting a paper himself, the better to understand what his children would be facing. His job in the home school was to teach his children history, the notes of which now form the backbone of this book.
While Hugh Williams is the main author of this work he is indebted to Daniel Joyce for his invaluable help in both correcting the original script and presenting the text in a more readable way.
From Ur to Us £20 (£22.50) by post. Send cheque or credit card details (see below) to Freepost, RRBC-SUZR-LUBK, St Edward’s Press Ltd, Yelverton, PL20 7PS. Or fax this form to 01752 334951. Or contact us by our website: www.stedwardspress.co.uk. Or email at info@stedwardspress.co.uk
Guarantee If you are not pleased with your purchase, please return the book with proof of purchase to the above address for a full no quibble refund.
Historians and academics have long bemoaned the lack of historical knowledge among the UK population.
This book has been written to tackle this problem, for both the student as well as the home, where remembrance of what was learned at school some years ago may have become somewhat sketchy.
Hugh Williams has designed it with the user’s needs as the prime focus and, unencumbered by the shackles of political correctness, it has already been called the most user-friendly history book.
The first unique feature is that the vast index is at the front. After that the book is split into four sections, offering references both chronologically and geographically, enabling the reader to glean key facts, figures and dates on everything from the time of Abraham (Ur) to the present day – you and me (us).
Published at £20 (£23 by post) by St Edwards Press. Copies can be obtained in the usual way (ISBN 9780955418853) or direct from the publisher Send cheque or credit card details to Freepost, RRBC-SUZR-LUBK, St Edward’s Press Ltd, Yelverton, PL20 7PS. Website: www.stedwardspress.co.uk. Email at info@stedwardspress.co.uk