Title: The History of England Volume I: Foundation
Genre: History
Pages: 450
Origin: bought from The Works for the bargain sum of £3.99
Nod Rating: 3 out of 5
A historian may be talented and have researched many nooks and crannies of the past that have delighted readers, but without that large focus on the broad reach of a nation’s history – the quest of the magnum opus – they seem to remain a figure not cut of heavyweight cloth. Peter Ackroyd has established a name for himself as one of London’s chief story-tellers – in both fiction and non-fiction – as well as publishing a list of books long and varied. Areas have been dealt with ranging from journalism to Edgar Allen Poe, from Oscar Wilde to Venice. But what of this work, his apparent ambition of the much desired and elusive opus?
The big theme has been concentrated on: a whole history of one particular nation and people. It follows in the footsteps of other popular historians, most notably that of Simon Schama and his three volumed work on Britain. But rather than deal with the whole of Britannia, in this devolved and politically fragmented times Ackroyd unashamedly deals with the largest nation of these isles: England.
The book begins in a land not so far away some 900,000 years ago, ending with the death of Henry VII in 1509. A large scan of history, even for a book of some five-hundred pages. For those readers who are accustomed to a “biography” of a nation, the start of such a book in the midst of time is no real surprise. The nation may change, but the pattern is usually the same: pre-history and the stone age, followed by the coming of the Romans, the vacating of the Romans, the feuding tribes of the Dark Stages, and then viola, we have the arrival of William the Conqueror. All of this is dealt with within 70 or so pages, leaving the bulk of this book to deal with the Norman and subsequent Plantagenet kings. Of histories on England, normal service is resumed: that is to say, a political narrative history based on the kings of England and their dealings with their back-stabbing off spring and their feuds with other kings of France.
This is undoubtedly a shame, and a routine that Ackroyd appears conscious of due to his parachuting of small chapters discussing life in a certain decade or century. These small chapters – some no more than two pages – appear to dig up some interesting local sources and stories. It is unfortunate that Ackroyd was unable to make more of these chapters, thereby side-stepping the usual political procession. Other disappointed points include the lack of proper time committed to the land of pre-1066, whilst the insistence of naming those in pre-history as “English” is annoying (especially given that there is no preface to explain the reasoning for this). Obviously such nitpicking – a forte of the Worm’s – detracts from what is a readable book, albeit one that lacks in full force of imagination.
Volume I completed, there is more to come. However, the Worm will be blunt to the point: if the usual story is written and printed, the future volumes will be avoided. There is enough already weighing down good bookshelves containing this plotline. Magnus opus, it is not. The quest, then, must go on.
Buy it here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0230706398/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0230706401&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=04W7ADTWF2VA7T1DVE8H
