Выступление на муниципальном конкурсе "Моя любимая книга на английском языке"

My favourite book.

Boudica – an ancient queen

William the conqueror – the Normans

Henry VIII – two women? Two churches

Elizabeth I – the Golden Age

Oliver Cromwell – the Lord Protector

Horatio Nelson – Battle of Trafalgar

Queen Victoria – Victorian Age

All the people do not have much in common, but all of them are a part of British history. I have learned a lot about them, having read a book by Fiona Beddall. This book tells us about Britain’s story from the Roman Empire two thousand years ago. It shows how the four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland came together as a one state.

Boudica was an ancient queen of North-West Britain. Romans tried many times to conquer her, but they always failed.

Another famous character is William the Conqueror. He invaded Britain in 1066. King Edward died and he had no children. People chose Harold, the Queen’s brother as a King. But William said, that Edward chose him as a next King. He won the Battle of Hastings and became a King of England.

About 450 years after, the king of England was Henry VIII his wife was Katharine of Aragon. He wanted to divorce her because she had one daughter, no sons. But the Pope didn’t give his consent. So, Henry decided to create a new religion to divorce. He married Anna Boleyn, but she gave him a daughter too. He executed her. His third wife, Jane Seymour, gave him a son, but she died soon. He divorced fourth wife, executed fifth, and his sixth wife outlived him.

Divorced – executed – died – divorced – executed – outlived.

Elizabeth I was a daughter of Henry VIII and Anna Boleyn. She became a queen after Edward an Mary the Bloody, her brother and sister. She made English church as the most powerful church in England. England became the most powerful sea state, after the defeat Spain in 1588. She was a queen from 1558 to 1603. She had no children.

The next king was James I, the son of Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary. His son, Charles I fought against the Parliament, but at the end he was defeated and executed.

Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector. He was the most powerful man in Britain at the end of war. Cromwell was Puritan, so he disliked music and dance. All the theatres were closed. Even Christmas was against the law.

150 years after Horatio Nelson and his army won the Battle of Trafalgar. He was killed in the battle, but most of the enemy’s ships were destroyed, and Britain’s sea power was made safe for the next hundred years.

Victoria became queen in 1837, at the age of eighteen. Under her rule, Britain became the biggest empire in the world. She died in 1901. Very few people remembered a time before the Victorian Age.

“The sun never goes down on our empire” said British people. Britain’s colonies were from Australia on East to Canada on West.

In the middle of XX century most of British colonies became independent. In 1997 the last British country – Hong Kong, became a part of China.

Now Britain is a part of Commonwealth, European Union and NATO. Without its empire Britain is a small country again – but small country with a big history.