Runnymede and Lincoln Fair: A Story of the Great Charter

John George EdgarProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.7
Word count
637K words
Chapters
64

Tags

English Originals Historical FictionWorld History Historical ReappraisalPortrait GalleryPower GameHeroismPatriotismFreedom and RightsHistorical NarrativeMedieval EnglandEra Panorama

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Runnymede and Lincoln Fair: A Story of the Great Charter by John G. EdgarAuthor: Edgar, John G. (John George), 1834-1864,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jan 9, 2015

Editor's review

Set against the birth of Magna Carta, this historical novel links Runnymede meadow with Lincoln fair, making it a useful primer on the origins of English constitutional history. The author, John G. Edgar, was a nineteenth-century British historical novelist writing in a Victorian narrative voice; the plot turns on the struggle between the barons and the crown, and readers interested in institutional history will gain a vivid sense of the period. As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, it is easy to obtain and undemanding to start, suited to fragmented reading on a commute or before sleep. Note that the novel carries clear period bias and literary embellishment and cannot replace serious historical scholarship; the original English also poses some linguistic challenge to non-native readers. Treat it as supplementary reading for historical context, not as a sole historical source.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Look up the basic background of Magna Carta first, then enter the plot; the reading will go much more smoothly.
  2. Separate the Runnymede and Lincoln fair threads and track changes in the characters' relationships.
  3. Skip unfamiliar historical terms at first, then look them up together after finishing the chapter.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in history? It can be read, but spend ten minutes first on the basic background of the signing of Magna Carta, or you may get lost among the names and political maneuvering. The novel emphasizes plot and atmosphere and does not require specialized historical training.
Is the original English difficult to read? The author wrote in the nineteenth century, with long sentences and rather classical diction, which poses some challenge to non-native readers. Intermediate and advanced English learners should try it; for long sentences, grasp the main structure first and then reread closely.
Can it be used as a factual historical reference? It should not be used directly as a factual basis. It is historical fiction with the author's literary embellishment and period bias; it is good for evoking the atmosphere of history, but specific facts should still be based on serious historical scholarship.

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About the author

John George Edgar Author · British · 1834–1864

John George Edgar (1834–1864) was a British writer. Born into a clergyman's family in Berwickshire, he began his career in business in Liverpool and travelled in the West Indies before turning to literature. Familiar with early English and Scottish history, he wrote historical biographies and historical story novels mainly for young readers. He served as the first editor of Every Boy's Magazine and left about twenty works in all. Representative titles include The Boy Crusaders and The Wars of the Roses, along with historical books on the age of Louis IX, the Norman Conquest and the story of Magna Carta. Blending historical fact with adventurous narrative in accessible language, his works sought to cultivate young readers' interest in history and had some influence on nineteenth-century British juvenile historical reading.