Reviews

How does he do it? In the space of a few years we've had accessible interpretations of London and of Dickens. Now Peter Ackroyd is tackling a subject even more broad in scope - the origins of English culture - but with the thoroughness of research and liveliness of style common to all his non-fiction. The main thread of this 500-page work, as he phrases it, is with 'beginnings rather than endings'. However, Ackroyd still manages to make the most curious and playful of connections throughout the ages, whether it be Beowulf's intimidating influence on Dryden, or the Carry On films' debt to medieval mystery plays and their penchant for lines such as 'Com kis myne ars!'

How does he do it? In the space of a few years we've had accessible interpretations of London and of Dickens. Now Peter Ackroyd is tackling a subject even more broad in scope - the origins of English culture - but with the thoroughness of research and liveliness of style common to all his non-fiction. The main thread of this 500-page work, as he phrases it, is with 'beginnings rather than endings'. However, Ackroyd still manages to make the most curious and playful of connections throughout the ages, whether it be Beowulf's intimidating influence on Dryden, or the Carry On films' debt to medieval mystery plays and their penchant for lines such as 'Com kis myne ars!'

In this impressive study, novelist, biographer, and poet Ackroyd (London: The Biography) traces the roots of the uniquely English imagination as manifested in literature, music, the visual arts, philosophy, and science. This imagination, he maintains, is an endless circle that moves both backward and forward; no art can be viewed in isolation since all the arts are part of the same continuum going back to Anglo-Saxon times. Ackroyd explores such elements of the English imagination as a strong sense of place ("territorial imperative"), a sentimental attachment to the past, the habit of assimilating and appropriating elements from other cultures, a preference for empiricism and pragmatism over intellectualism, a predilection for the motley by combining disparate elements, and tendencies to understatement and irony. Factors influencing the English imagination examined here include Arthurian legend, Britain's Catholic heritage, Gothic literature, the love of spectacle and melodrama, and a passion for gardening. Entertaining as well as informative, this work is highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/03.]-Denise J. Stankovics, Rockville P.L., Vernon, CT Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.