Charles Dickens published a book titled A Child's History of England. From 25 January 1851 to 10 December 1853, Household Words published it in serial form for the first time. Dickens additionally released the work in three volumes as a book, with the first volume appearing on December 20, 1851, the second on December 25, 1852, and the third on December 24, 1853. The volumes were released in December, however, they were all post dated for the next year. "My own beloved children," Dickens wrote in the dedication, "whom I trust it may help, by and by, to read with interest larger and better volumes on the same subject." The history spanned the years 50 BC to 1689, and it concluded with a chapter that provided a chronology of events up until the accession of Queen Victoria. The curriculum for British schoolchildren contained A Child's History long into the 20th century; it was produced in multiple editions between 1851 and World War II. Dickens admitted that he wrote the novel in a letter to his friend Douglas William Jerrold to stop his kids from becoming conservatives.