Story of England

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History Documentary hosted by Michael Wood, published by BBC in 2010 - English narration

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Series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place - the village of Kibworth in Leicestershire - throughout the whole of English history. The village lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was bombed in World War Two.

[edit] Romans to Normans

With the help of the local people and using archaeology, landscape, language and DNA, Michael uncovers the lost history of Kibworth's first thousand years, featuring a Roman villa, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings and graphic evidence of life on the eve of the Norman Conquest.

[edit] Domesday to Magna Carta

Wood's unique portrait moves on to 1066 when the Normans build a castle in Kibworth. He reveals how occupation affected the villagers from the gallows to the alehouse, and shows the medieval open fields in action. With the help of the locals, he charts events in the village leading to the people's involvement in the Civil War of Simon de Montfort.

[edit] The Great Famine and the Black Death

In the 14th century, Kibworth goes through the worst famine in European history, and then, as revealed in the village archive in Merton College Oxford, two thirds of the people die in the Black Death. Helped by today's villagers and by the local schoolchildren digging archaeological test pits, Wood follows stories of individual lives through these times.

[edit] Peasants' Revolt to Tudors

Amazing finds in the school archive help trace peasant education back to the 14th century. Some villagers join in a rebellion against King Henry V, while others rise to become middle class merchants in the textile town of Coventry. On the horizon is the Protestant Reformation, but the rise of capitalism and individualism sow the seeds of England's future greatness.

[edit] Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution

The tale reaches the events of Henry VIII's Reformation and the English Civil War. We track Kibworth's 17th century dissenters and meet an 18th century feminist writer. The descendents of a highwayman transported to Australia come back to the village to uncover their roots, and the Industrial Revolution comes to the village with framework knitting factories.

[edit] Victoria to the Present Day

Michael uncovers the secret history of a colourful Victorian village, visits World War I battlefields with the school and recalls the Home Guard, local land girls and the bombing of the village in 1940. Finally, the series moves into the brave new world of 'homes for heroes' and the villagers come together to leave a reminder of their world for future generations.