'Sarum', by Edward Rutherford. It is a historical novel, but stretching from the earliest settlers to 1985. That is, the earliest settlers in what became Salisbury, which means that England is still connected to Europe when it starts. It follows families. I'm up to the year 1553, and there are more than 1300 pages!
I've read his 'Forest', about the New Forest (planted in the 11c), and 'London', which have the same format. They are sort of history books, but not as we learned at school!