Days of Glory

The internet is great for nostalgia. I had some early Christmas money and sent for two things that arrived today. The first was the 'new' Beatles CD Love - more on that another time perhaps.

The second was the book Days of Glory, a 168p school history textbook. Published 1961 (3rd impression 1964) it was my favourite book in Junior School. (My mother bought me a copy but it was lost). By Rowland W Purton (b 1925 and the author of several books for kids) its 45 chapters go from 'How things began' to 'Journey into space' via Hammurabi, Julius Caesar, Jesus of Nazareth (!), King Arthur, Caedmon, Robin Hood, The Gunpowder Plot, Honest Abe, etc. It has an undoubted 'Christian' bias (chapters cover Sts Patrick, Columba, Augustine and Aidan, King Edmund, Thomas Becket, Shaftesbury, Fry, etc). My favourite feature was the summary chart for each chapter.

I'm sure a lot of it would make me cringe now but it was a great intro for a young boy. Chapter 11 is quite remarkable. I reproduce it below. Such a chapter would not be allowed today. How things have changed in 40 years.

A few years after Julius Caesar was killed, a baby was born. There was something special about Him. He was only born in a stable and yet wise men came to bring Him presents. He was called Jesus Christ.
As a young man He worked in a carpenter’s shop. Then when He was thirty He began to teach people about God. You will not need to be told of the things He did or the stories He told. For three years people came to hear what He had to say and many came to be healed.
Then He was taken prisoner by the chief priests because they did not like what He was doing. The Roman soldiers nailed Him on a cross and He died. After three days He rose again from the dead and later went up to heaven in a cloud.
Many people had listened to what Jesus had to say and they began to teach other people. Soon there were men and women in many lands who believed in Jesus. They built many churches in which to worship God. Jesus had taught us that God is our Heavenly Father. People who try to do at Jesus taught are called Christians. Many Christian people have worked
hard to change things which were wrong. If Jesus had not come, the world would be much different to-day.
Because Jesus came we have changed our calendar. The Romans counted their years from the year Rome was built. The Jews count theirs from the time of Abraham. We count ours from the Birth of Jesus.