Anglo-Saxon Attitudes - Softcover

Wilson, Angus

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571243177 ISBN 13: 9780571243174

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 2011

Synopsis

Gerald Middleton, Professor Emeritus of early medieval history, is a taciturn and methodical man, a creature of habit who likes to have his daily routine undisturbed. Separated from his Swedish wife and disapproving of his youngest son’s job Gerald’s life and work are starting to lose their meaning. Keenly aware of his faults and the void that he has created around himself Middleton is forced back into the world once again as events from his past begin to catch up with him. Years ago he had been involved in an excavation that led to the discovery of a grotesque idol in the tomb of Bishop Eorpwald. It was a discovery that shocked, scandalised and mystified a whole generation of scholars. Now Middleton is the sole survivor of that fatal excavation party and he hides an even more damaging secret... First published in 1956 Anglo-Saxon Attitudes is an ambitious and sharply-observed portrait of society. Drawing on perhaps the most famous archaeological hoax in history, the Piltdown skull hoax of 1953, the story explores the corruption that occurs within communities - whether they are academic or political - and the lengths to which people will go to protect what they hold dear.

About this title

Review:

"After Evelyn Waugh, what? The answer is Angus Wilson, a master of mimicry, diction, intention and wit." --Edmund Wilson

"One of the five greatest novels of the century." --Anthony Burgess

..".brilliant and ambitious...In every generation one or two novelists revise the conventional picture of English character. Mr. Wilson does this." --V.S. Pritchett, New Statesman and Nation

"It's Dickens for the smart set, or Edmund Wilson with a dash of savage silliness." --Susan Salter Reynolds, The Los Angeles Times

"So read this splendid novel and you will find yourself not only entertained and at times vastly amused, but actually wiser about human nature. You will not only experience vicariously some interesting slices of postwar English life, but you will be conducted into a world of fine moral and ethical distinctions, which are this novelist's particular forte. Much wisdom and humanity are to be found in the pages ofAnglo-Saxon Attitudes." --Martin Rubin, The Washington Times

About the Author:

One of Britain's most distinguished novelists Sir Angus Wilson was born in 1913. Educated at Westminster and Merton College, Oxford he joined the British Museum as a cataloguer before being called for service in 1941. His literary career began with a collection of short-stories published in 1949. These were followed by other short-story collections, novels and plays.

Co-founder with Malcolm Bradbury of the MA programme in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Wilson was appointed professor in 1967. Chair of many literary panels, including the Booker prize, and campaigner for homosexual equality he was knighted in 1980. He died in 1991.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0571243177
• ISBN 13: 9780571243174
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 348