ISBN Albion book English 560 pages

Highly original and magnificent in scope,Albion: The Origins of the EnglishImagination 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 book 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 asLondon: The Biographyguided the reader through the capital 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 Bronte sisters,Alice through the Looking GlassandLord of the Rings
Witty, provocative and anecdotal, this is Peter Ackroyd at his most brilliant and exuberant.