Description
Having written enthralling biographies of London and of its great river, the Thames, Peter Ackroyd now turns to England itself. This first volume of six takes us from the time that England was first settled, more than 15,000 years ago, to the death in 1509 of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII.
In Foundation, Ackroyd takes us from Neolithic England, which we can only see in the most tantalizing glimpses – a stirrup found in a grave, some seeds at the bottom of a bowl – to the long period of Roman rule; from the Dark Ages when England was invaded by a ceaseless tide of Angles, Saxons and Jutes, to the twin glories of medieval England – its great churches and monasteries and its common law. With his extraordinary skill for evoking time and place, he tells the familiar story of king succeeding king in rich prose, with profound insight and some surprising details. The food we ate, the clothes we wore, the punishments we endured, even the jokes we told are all found here, too.
Review
Wonderfully fascinating!
I have always been intrigued about the history of England and feel myself to be fairly knowledgeable from the time of Edward IV onwards, however, I knew very little regarding anything before that (bar the names of the Kings, and some snippets about William the Conqueror from school days). So to be able to learn about our culture and ways of life from the Neolithic right through to the Tudor was terrific.
What I loved was that while the book takes you through the changing monarchs, laws, and political system it also focuses on the common man, the poor, what daily life was like for them, and the changes they faced as well.
It is well written in an easy-to-read style, I was able to dip in and out without losing track of ‘where I was’ in time. So much is covered in this book, it could easily have been overwhelming but the author presented the information so brilliantly that it was a very enjoyable read.
I am very much looking forward to reading Volume II on the Tudors!
