Albion

The Origins of the English Imagination

• Author(s): Peter Ackroyd,
• Publisher: Vintage
• Pages: 516
• ISBN_10: 0099438070
  ISBN_13: 9780099438076
  
• Language: en
• Categories: History / Europe / Great Britain / General , History / Europe / Ireland , Literary Criticism / General , Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh , Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General , Social Science / Ethnic Studies / European Studies ,

Description:... Highly original and magnificent in scope, Albion discovers the roots of English cultural history in the Anglo-Saxon period, and traces it through the centuries. What does it mean to be English? This dazzling work demonstrates that a quintessentially English quality can be discovered in all forms of English culture, not only in literature but also in painting, music, architecture, philosophy and science. Just as London: The Biography guided the reader through the great city with a mixture of narrative and theme, so Albion, employing the same techniques, engages the reader with stories and surprises -- from Beowulf to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, via Chaucer and Shakespeare, to the Brontë sisters, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Lord of the Rings. Witty, provocative and anecdotal, this is Peter Ackroyd at his most brilliant and exuberant.