Puck of Pook's Hill

This is a fine series of 10 short stories of English history from various different centuries, some of them linked together, and often having some link to the Pevensey area, in East Sussex by the sea.

They're dressed up as stories told to two children by Puck and by participants in the events, who are magically brought forward in time to bear witness. However, these are on the whole adult stories of serious adult business.

The first four stories tell of before and after the Norman Conquest (11th century), and these are my favourites of the collection. Then we have three stories set in Roman Britain, in the later years of the 4th century. The last three stories are set later in time (15th century, 16th century, 13th century), and I like them less, although they're still readable.

Kipling has the knack of making these stories vivid and immediate, things happening to real people as though they were happening now. The book was published in 1906, so his modern times are not ours, but the historical stories don't date and still seem fresh.