In Search of England: Journeys into the English Past - Hardcover

Wood, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520225821 ISBN 13: 9780520225824

Publisher: Univ of California Pr, 2000

Synopsis

A historical exploration of the myths, legends, and events that have shaped the English identity examines the tales surrounding King Arthur, Robin Hood, Alfred the Great, and others to offer revealing insights about the beginnings of English culture.

About this title

Review:

From the popular television historian who has previously gone in search of the Trojan War and in the footsteps of Alexander, comes a new study of a pressing question, now that "Britain" seems to be an increasingly meaningless concept: What does it mean to English? Wood traces an answer through many of the most cherished national myths, like Robin Hood, King Arthur, Alfred the Great and the mysteries of Glastonbury. As you would expect from Wood, he ranges about over the whole of England, rather than sticking to the obvious places. He visits Tinsley Wood near Sheffield, claimed as the site of Athelstan's great victory over the Celts in 937 AD. He finds a farmhouse in Devon that has been continuously occupied for a thousand years and a village in Leicestershire where the local peasantry confronted the King's soldiers in 1265 to tell them that they were violating the rights of "the common people of England." The book also boasts a wonderful, judicious collection of reproductions of old posters and paintings showing how our forefathers, particularly the Victorians, imaginatively recreated England's past in their own image. Timely, readable and fascinating stuff, this is popular history at its very best. --Christopher Hart

Review:

"A thoughtful meditation on the roots of the Anglo-Saxon world."--"Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Univ of California Pr
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0520225821
• ISBN 13: 9780520225824
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336