John Richard Green was born in 1837, and followed a standard path towards a career in the Church. He was ordained in 1860 and, after several years working in a string of London parishes, united his literary leanings and his church work in his role as the librarian of Lambeth Palace. He never held an academic post, but under the influence and support of A. P. Stanley and E. A. Freeman he became perhaps the leading amateur historian of his day. In his
Short History of the English People(1874), he took a large subject and with great skill and energy produced a wonderful narrative, full of the sort of colour that attracts and excites the reader, and yet never descends into excessive ornamentation. As a result, it was probably the second-highest selling history book of the century, behind…
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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "John Richard Green". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 March 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1858, accessed 24 April 2024.]
