"[1] Green began work on the book in 1869, having been given only six months to live after being hit hard by disease that had plagued him throughout his life.
[2] Only having around 800 pages to write on, he had to leave out much of what he wanted to include.
[citation needed] Green intentionally left out the battles of England feeling they did not play a big role in the formation of the nation, saying that historians "too often turned history into a mere record of the butchery of men by their fellow men.
"[3] His new ideas, and omission of information that others felt important, meant Green was criticized by other historians as well as the people close to him.
[citation needed] Others thought highly of the book, including Francis Adams, who used quotations from the book in his poem The Peasants' Revolt.