8 h 37 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What stories could an old armchair tell about settlers, rulers, wars, and the road to revolution?
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s True Stories of History and Biography, a grandfather gathers Laurence, Clara, Charley, and little Alice around his chair. Each owner from the chair’s past opens another chapter of New England’s story. A familiar room becomes the starting point for tales of hardship, power, and change.
The collection moves from the Massachusetts colony’s early struggles to disputes over self-rule, wars, protest, and revolution. Later sections turn to short lives of remarkable men and women on both sides of the Atlantic. Hawthorne tells these histories through scenes, talk, and feeling, with adventure tempered by sorrow for its cost.
What you’ll discover
- A chair carries history Follow an everyday object as its changing owners lead you through colonial life.
- Settlers face hard beginnings Meet Lady Arbella Johnson and enter the harsh early months of the Massachusetts colony.
- The struggle over rule Explore the colony’s charter and the question of who holds power in New England.
- Adventure with a cost Encounter battles and raids told with excitement, yet with sorrow for their human cost.
- Lives beyond New England Turn from the colony’s story to portraits of people on both sides of the Atlantic.
Who will love it
For readers who love history told as storytelling, parents who enjoy reading aloud, and Hawthorne fans curious about his lighter side. The grandfather’s chair tales bring New England’s past and the lives of remarkable people into a friendly circle of listeners.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Chair Carries the Past
- Early Settlers Meet Hardship and Conflict
- From Charters to Province House
- Wars, Protest and the Road to Revolution
- Lives of Remarkable People
- How Hawthorne Tells History
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Storie vere di storia e biografia
A grandfather’s old chair carries children through New England’s past, from colonial struggles to revolution.
Medium level5–10 hours to readItaliano
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In short
True Stories of History and Biography gathers the books Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote for children in the early 1840s, with later additions, and was published as one volume in 1851. Hawthorne is better known for novels such as The Scarlet Letter.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Chair Carries the Past
The book opens in a family home, where a grandfather sits in a large old armchair. Around him are children, among them Laurence, Clara, Charley and little Alice. They ask for a story, and he answers by telling them about the chair itself. It once belonged to people who sailed across the Atlantic to the new colony of Massachusetts.
A chair is something a child can see and touch, so the distant past becomes a thing in the room. Each time the chair passes to a new owner, the grandfather has a reason to speak of a new age. The listeners interrupt him, argue with him and ask questions, and that keeps the telling lively.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 7 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 5 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. True Stories of History and Biography. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/true-stories-of-history-and-biography.
Hawthorne, N. (2026). True stories of history and biography. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/true-stories-of-history-and-biography
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. True Stories of History and Biography. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/true-stories-of-history-and-biography.
@book{hawthorne2026true,
author = {Hawthorne, Nathaniel},
title = {True Stories of History and Biography},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/true-stories-of-history-and-biography}
}
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What is True Stories from History and Biography about?
It is a set of tales for young readers. A grandfather tells children the history of New England through the story of an old chair, and later the book adds short lives of famous people.
Is True Stories of History and Biography for children?
Yes. Hawthorne wrote it with young readers in mind, in simple language with a kindly storyteller. Adults can enjoy it too, especially as read-aloud history or as a view of Hawthorne's lighter work.
Is the book a true history?
It is based on real events and people, but Hawthorne shapes them as stories and adds scenes and talk. It is better read as storytelling than as a strict modern history.
The author
Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804–1864 · American novelist
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short-story writer born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. He lived in Massachusetts and served as a United States consul in Liverpool, England. He wrote The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). He died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, in 1864.
More by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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