Books in Great Events series

The great events of British history are part of our shared heritage and it is important that children know the facts behind the famous dates from a young age. In this series, Gillian Clements tells the stories of some of these events through a lively combination of text and illustration (including some speech bubbles, labelled maps etc). In this way she makes history child-friendly and accessible but still manages to incorporate, wherever possible, primary source material (such as eyewitness accounts and documentary evidence). THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON retells the events leading up to the fire of 1666 and its consequences. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT looks at the reasons for the plan to blow up the houses of Parliament in 1605, and the key figures involved including Guy Fawkes. Each book has been thoroughly checked by a history educationalist for accuracy, language levels and appropriate content, and a timeline and glossary are included. These simple, gently-humorous stories give readers the information they need and encourage the development of a real sense of history and how it works.

The strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Pullman, Illinois, in the spring and summer of 1894 began a new era in the struggle between American labor and management. Although there had been earlier strikes, the walk-out at Pullman quickly spread into a series of sympathy strikes along the thousands of miles of railroads heading west from Chicago. The participation of the American Railway Union, and its leader Eugene Debs, made this one of the first instances of an industrial union strike. The willingness of the U.S. government to interfere in the strike on the side of management, and to call in federal troops against the expressed wishes of local and state officials, expanded Washington’s power to interfere in the private economy. All of these factors made the Pullman Strike a watershed event in American economic history.

The great events of British history are part of our shared heritage and it is important that children know the facts behind the famous dates from a young age. In this series, Gillian Clements tells the stories of some of these events through a lively combination of text and illustration (including some speech bubbles, labelled maps etc). In this way she makes history child-friendly and accessible but still manages to incorporate, wherever possible, primary source material (such as eyewitness accounts and documentary evidence). THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS retells the defeat of Harold in 1066 and start of the Norman conquest. THE CORONATION OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II looks at the current Queen's coronation in 1952 and the excitement caused by the conquest of Everest at the same time. Each book has been thoroughly checked by a history educationalist for accuracy, language levels and appropriate content, and a timeline and glossary are included. These simple, gently-humorous stories give readers the information they need and encourage the development of a real sense of history and how it works.

Great Events: Remembrance Day looks at the history behind the anniversary of the armistice of 1918 that ended World War I. It also looks at how the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month has come to commemorate those killed in all wars in the following years. Gillian Clements tells the story through a lively combination of text and illustration (including some speech bubbles, labelled maps etc). In this way she makes history child friendly and accessible but still manages to incorporate, wherever possible, primary source material (such as eyewitness accounts and documentary evidence).