本教材编写中以英国历史文化发展为线索，展现英国各段历史进程中的**概况，既训练语言技能，也丰富相关知识。涉及系统的历史内容，帮助读者了解英国各段历史时期的重大事件，系统介绍英国历史文化发展背景。本次改版对难度有所调整，并增加教师资源包，以适应不同层次学生的需要。根据阅读材料的时效性进行增删。改版中增加“互联网 ”因素， 通过二维码呈现网络资源，增强文化类教材的特色。本书适用于英语专业一、二年级学生，也适用于具有中学英语基础的非英语专业学生和英语爱好者学习。

Unit 1 The Birth of a Nation/ 1 Text A The Ancient Britons and Invasions/ 2 Text B Anglo-Saxon England/ 10 Text C King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table/ 12 Text D The Venerable Bede (673—735) / 14 Unit 2 The Normans/ 19 Text A The Norman Monarchs/ 20 Text B Feudalism after the Norman Conquest/ 26 Text C The Doomsday Book / 28 Unit 3 The Early Plantagenet/ 32 Text A The Rule ofLaw/ 33 Text B The Canterbury Tales / 38 Text C The Crusades/ 41 Unit 4 The House of Plantagenet/ 47 Text A The Birth of Parliament/ 48 Text B The Magna Carta / 55 Text C King John/ 57 Unit 5 The14th-century England/ 61 Text A The Hundred Years’ War/ 62 Text B The Black Death and Wat Tyler Uprising/ 63 Text C Wat Tyler and His Revolting Peasants/ 67 Text D Joan of Arc—Maid of Orleans/ 68 Unit 6 The House of Lancasterand York/ 73 Text A The Wars of the Roses/ 74 Text B The Mystery of the Princes in the Tower/ 79 Text C The Middle Ages/ 81 Unit 7 The Tudor Age/ 84 Text A The Tudor Monarchy/ 85 Text B The Reformationin England (1517—1563) / 86 Text C King Henry VII/ 92 Text D Henry VIII and His Marriage/ 94 Unit 8 The Elizabethan Age/ 99 Text A The Reign of Elizabeth I/ 100 Text B Queen Elizabeth I/ 106 Text C Entertainment in Elizabethan Age/ 108 Text D Defeat of the Spanish Armada/ 111 Unit 9 The House of Stuart/ 115 Text A The Age of Revolution/ 116 Text B King James VIandI/ 123 Text C The English Civil War/ 125 Unit 10 The House of Hanover/ 130 Text A The Hanoverian Monarchs/ 131 Text B Napoleon Bonaparte (1769—1821) / 137 Text C King GeorgeI II/ 140 Unit 11 TheIndustrial Revolution/ 143 Text A The British Industrial Revolution/ 144 Text B Machines for the Industrial Revolution/ 149 Text C The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution/ 151 Unit 12 The Victorian Age (1837—1901) / 154 Text A Queen Victoria and Her Reign/ 155 Text B Everyday Life in Victorian England/ 161 Text C Charles Dickens (1812—1870) / 164 Unit 13 The World at War/ 169 Text A The Great Britain in the World Wars/ 170 Text B Causes of World WarI/ 176 Text C Winston Churchill/ 178 Unit 14 Towards the New Millennium/ 187 Text A House of Windsor/ 188 Text B Queen Elizabeth II/ 193 Text C Margaret Thatcher/ 195 Unit 15 Wales, Scotland and Ireland/ 201 Text A The English Conquest of Wales/ 202 Text B The Story of Scotland/ 203 Text C The Ties between Ireland and the Great Britain/ 209 Appendixes/ 213 Appendix 1: Kings and Queens of England and Britain/ 213 Appendix 2: Genealogy of the Monarchs of England/ 224 主要参考文献和网站/ 226