''The King's England'' is a topographical and historical book series written and edited by

Arthur Mee Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', ''The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. The ...

in 43 volumes. The first, introductory, volume was published in 1936; in 1989, The King's England Press was established to reprint the series. It was said that the series was a modern

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

and that the compilers had travelled half-a-million miles in order to complete their task. The vast majority of the content is a description of churches and associated local worthies.

Original titles

The first title in the series was the introductory volume, ''Enchanted Land: Half-a-million miles in the King's England'', published by

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher ...

in 1936. It was said that the series was a modern Domesday Book and that the compilers had travelled half-a-million miles in order to complete their task.

Revised titles

In 1970, the London volume was split into three. Bomb damage during the Second World War, the subsequent post-war reconstruction and alterations to local government boundaries in 1965 all made it difficult to treat London properly in one volume. The new volumes, which brought the total to 43, were: * ''London North of the Thames except the City and Westminster'' (1972) * ''London – The City and Westminster'' * ''London South of the Thames''

Reprints

In 1989,

The King's England Press ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

was established to reprint the series, "recognising the need for them, both as excellent guidebooks and now with the added dimension as historical documents in their own right."

References

Series of history books History books about England Topography Series of non-fiction books {{England-hist-book-stub