Albion

More about the book

Covers the whole of English cultural history from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day--from the Venerable Bede through English myths such as the legends about King Arthur and Albion to C.S. Lewis; from Chaucer through Spenser to George Eliot; from the English mystics through the philosopher Locke to Iris Murdoch; from Purcell through Elgar to Michael Tippett; from Hogarth through Constable to Turner; from mystery plays through Shakespeare to music hall. Ackroyd's favourite themes are here: the visionary poetry of Blake, the theatrical novels of Dickens, the humanism of Thomas More--and there are also explorations of forgery and plagiarism, Romanticism, artificiality, farce and pantomime, assimilation and energy.--From publisher description