The King's England
The King's England is a topographical and historical book series written and edited by Arthur Mee in 43 volumes. The first, introductory, volume was published in 1936; in 1989, The King's England Press was established to reprint the series.
It was said[by whom?] that the series was a modern Domesday Book and that the compilers had travelled half-a-million miles in order to complete their task. The vast majority of the content is a description of churches and associated local worthies.
Original titles[]
The first title in the series was the introductory volume, Enchanted Land: Half-a-million miles in the King's England, published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1936.[1] It was said that the series was a modern Domesday Book and that the compilers had travelled half-a-million miles in order to complete their task.
- Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire
- Berkshire
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Cornwall
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- Durham
- Enchanted Land: Half-a-million miles in the King's England
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Hampshire with the Isle of Wight
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire: London's Country Neighbour
- Kent
- Lake Counties
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire and Rutland
- Lincolnshire
- London: Heart of the Empire and Wonder of the World (1937)
- Middlesex (1940)
- Monmouthshire
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Sussex
- Warwickshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
- Yorkshire – East Riding
- Yorkshire – North Riding
- Yorkshire – West Riding
Revised titles[]
In 1970, the London volume was split into three. Bomb damage during the Second World War, the subsequent post-war reconstruction and alterations to local government boundaries in 1965 all made it difficult to treat London properly in one volume.[2] The new volumes, which brought the total to 43, were:
- London North of the Thames except the City and Westminster (1972)
- London – The City and Westminster
- London South of the Thames
Reprints[]
In 1989, was established to reprint the series, "recognising the need for them, both as excellent guidebooks and now with the added dimension as historical documents in their own right."[3]
References[]
- ^ Wagner, David Paul. "The King's England". publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- ^ "Preface" by Ann Saunders (1972) in London North of the Thames. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. ix ISBN 0340158743
- ^ "About the company". The King's England Press. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Series of history books
- History books about England
- Topography
- Series of non-fiction books
- United Kingdom history book stubs
- English history stubs