This book was a good book, the quality of it was book. It was so packed full with information that I found it dull. But nevertheless, it was good and I learned a lot about William Penn. I had no idea who William Penn was before reading this picture book and soon learned he was a Quaker who was continuously jailed for his Quaker beliefs. He was also an admiral in the Kings Navy, which at that time was under the control of Oliver Cromwell. I think was kinda like a civil war in England. One said wanted Puritans to be in control, King Charles the 1st wanted himself to be in control. Penn was on the side of Cromwell and after they defeated the King, the King was beheaded and the Heir Apparent sent into exile. After the monarchy was restored, King Charles the 2nd knighted William Penn. Penn went on to study at Oxford. He trsaveled Europe at the request of his father and was introduced to Royal Courts. His introduction into Court Life made him more pure in his religion and he thought royal courts were superficial. Quakers like him were persecuted more and more in England and Penn found himself thrown into the Tower of London for preaching Quakerism. After his release, he spoke out against the injustices done to the Puritans and stated over and over that all people were equal. He applied for a land grant in the "Penn's Wood" area of the New World. It was granted to him and he left for the New World. Here he planned out a gird work system and began to build Pennsylvania. But unforchantly, he signed some paperwork without reading it and handed ownership of his new land to a person named Ford. He was deep in debt and taken to a debtor's prison and age 63.The Quaker Society raised 7600 pounds for his release and he was able to die at home in 1718. ( )

This book on the history of William Penn was good but not great. I'm not sure if it could be used in a history class because I was unsure of the author's credentials. The back of the book provided the author as being "distinguished" and having authored a few more historical books. I did go to the author's website where it is stated that he is a graduate of Harvard with a degree in American History and Literature. This made me feel a little better about the fact that he did not provide a bibliography for his sources. I think the author did a great job at providing informational text but his prose is lacking. It was hard for me to get emotionally invested in the book. I love history and facts but the author did not really hook me with anything exciting. ( )