A book that takes its time to impress but does
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Weaving is an overused metaphor but for this book feels appropriate. It is a series of disparate pieces the full effect of which doesn't really make itself apparent until you've read it all. It starts off quite normally for a book about Olde Englande - Alfred, Aethelstan, the Normans, moderately interesting but nothing extraordinary - but then by focussing in on small specifics - a psalter, a chapel and some woods, a farm house - he achieves something I've never seen before in the same way, giving a real sense of how persistant and pervasive the material past is (have a map or Google Earth handy, it's fascinating).
At the end he brings it round full circle, writing about a group of people whose roots are in both Norman England and in Africa, via centuries in the Carribean, showing that the heritage of Olde Englande isn't only about the narrow vision that includes stone Norman knights in churches, and that in turn stone normans belong as much to those African - Carribean Norman descendants as to white english ones who more commonly claim them and in whose stories and identity they are so significant.
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Thought provoking collection
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In a set of essays pulled together for this publication, the astonishingly accessible Michael Wood again manages to convey a sense of wonder and interest in history (which school sadly never did). He also gives insight into his own growth as an historian (a fifteen year old traipsing around woods near Sheffield or visits to Montgomery in the House of Commons.
The theme starts with the premise that much of what we view as the quintessence of English-ness is a sense of place and myth that largely predates the Norman invaders. For a while the book built in me a sense of (thousand years too late) rebellion against the Normans who displaced the noble England building Anglo Saxons.
Underneath this though, the Anglo Saxons (and the Belgea) in their turn displaced post-Roman structures, and in turn the Celts / Picts...
The triumph of the Anglo Saxons is the language and local structures (shires / hundreds / parishes).
Moving along more recent immigration is touched on (in this case the initial forced immigration of slavery) in the example of a West Indian family who 'Always knew they were English". Given the obsession with immigration in the early 21st century, it is nice to note that over time (e.g. Hugenots and other pre-1900s immigrants) they all add to the rich fabric of Englishness and an identity survives it all. Maybe there is hope for us all!
Why only four stars? Just the fact that I wanted a re-work of some of the pieces to make the overall book read more consistently.
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In search of England (Michael Wood)
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Just echoing Colin's review. Although I've only read the first three essays it's crystal clear that this is another wonderful book by Michael Wood. Of all the 'history' books I've read only Michael Wood has the ability and boundless enthusiasm to fully pull me in and not let go. The essays ranging from King Arthur to Robin Hood have been superb; the fact that Mr Wood pulls comments from Monty Python only adds to my total enjoyment.
While the subject may sound dusty dry & boring even if you're not interested in history give your brain a treat & get hold of this or any of Michael Wood's books.
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Compelling and accessible essays which bring history alive.
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Although I love history, the Anglo-Saxons have done little for me. However, this book is changing all that. This is a compelling and highly accessible series of essays which, like Michael Wood's TV programmes, sweep you along in their enthusiasm and sheer pleasure of each subject. The essays are built around three themes: myth; manuscripts and mysteries; and landscape and people. The "myth" essays, which tackle issues like the Norman Yoke, King Arthur, and Robin Hood, may not break new ground but set out what scholars do know crisply and comprehensively. The book really starts to fly when Michael Wood delves into specific local stories - a psalter in the British library, a farmhouse in Devon, a village in Leicestershire - and brings the history of England alive. There is real power and compassion in, for example, his account of the Jarrow of Bede. Of the many books around at present which seek to define England and Englishness, this will take some beating.
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