 | England: An Elegy by Roger Scruton
Buy used from: £0.88 Autobiographical episodes, intelligently leavened with a lament for the lost world of respect for monarchy, religion, the law, etc. NOT for the politically correct...!
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 | In Memory of England: A Novelist's View of History by Peter Vansittart
Buy used from: £4.09 Surveys the legendary land of Albion, Arthur, Merlin, Jack the Giantkiller. Then patchily on to more conventional heroes - incl. Wyclif, Wolsey and Eliz. I
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 | The English: A Portrait of a People by Jeremy Paxman
Buy used from: £0.01 Ye-e-s. Paxo's thrusting investingation, cynical and pointed, of English groping towards a new national identity in these devolving times.
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 | Englishness Identified: Manners and Character 1650-1850 by Paul Langford
Buy used from: £15.50 Historian superbly anatomises six major traits of the English national character: Energy, Candour, Decency, Taciturnity, Reserve, Eccentricity
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 | Albion - the Origins of the English Imagination by Peter Ackroyd
Buy new: £18.99 / Used from: £2.98 Sprawling, well-researched, self-indulgent - the usual Ackroyd cocktail.
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 | Portrait of a Valley: The Hambleden Valley in Photographs
Buy used from: £76.93 A stunning photographic distillation focussing on the Chilterns, one of the English heartlands.
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 | In Search of England: Journeys into the English Past by Michael Wood
Buy new: £7.69 / Used from: £2.49 Examines Englishness, revaluates the legendary crew (Arthur, Robin Hood, etc.) and tellingly considers impact of key places, e.g. Bede's Jarrow.
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 | Great Tales from English History: Cheddar Man to the Peasants' Revolt by Robert Lacey
Buy new: £11.19 / Used from: £1.50 Absolutely brilliant retailing, in digestible chapters, of national legend and history, 7150 BC to 1381 AD, spiced with relevant trivia. Look out for next two volumes.
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 | A Rhyming History of Britain by James Muirden
Buy used from: £0.01 Yes, a bit infantile and it does stop in the 1960s. Entertaining, clever and informative.
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 | Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01 Panoramic epic fictionalisation of English history, centred on Salisbury. Narratively occ. weak; hard going, but majestic nonetheless. Buy, and linger.
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 | Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) by Ronald Blythe
Buy used from: £0.41 Outstanding portrayal of English village life and occupations, both ancient and modern
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 | The English Nation: The Great Myth by Edwin Jones
Buy used from: £1.90 Links England's search for new identity to quasi-German angst over loss of empire. Hmm.
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 | England: The Making of the Myth from Stonehenge to Albert by Maureen Duffy
Buy new: £6.39 / Used from: £0.01 A somewhat academic romp through the usual suspects.
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| A Book of Historical Recipes (National Trust Cookery Books) by Sara Paston-Williams
Buy used from: £0.01 Yummy trawl through heritage cookery, with modernised recipes. Go on, treat yourself.
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 | Costume, 1066-1990s: A Complete Guide to English Costume Design and History by John Peacock
Buy used from: £2.39 Nice line drawings with explanations, of our sartorial evolution.
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 | A Passage to India by E M Forster
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01 Classic on the downside of colonialism. Check out David Lean's film, too.
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 | Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Buy used from: £0.01 Unmissable. Quiet, perceptive Victorian novel of village life. Small IS beautiful.
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 | The Diary of a Nobody (Penguin Popular Classics) by George Grossmith
Buy used from: £0.01 Very funny. Wry, deadpan study of dreaded suburban daily grind in Edwardian times, and the long-suffering, aspirational Mr Pooter.
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 | Classic Songs and Sketches by Peter Sellers
Buy used from: £51.11 Essential listening. Prepare to kill yourself laughing at his renditions of Beatle songs and Unchained Melody, not to mention various other classic sketches.
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 | Sir John Alot Of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng & Ye Grene Knyghte by John Renbourn
Buy used from: £9.79 Captivating combination of English folk music and blues by master finger-picking guitarist. A staple resource of undergrads in English. For late-night meditation, solo or with partner, poems, etc.
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 | A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles
Buy new: £9.78 / Used from: £5.51 Of the Beatles' work, you need this one and Revolver.
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 | Fantasia on Greensleeves by Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Neville Marriner
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £5.39 Required late-night listening, ideal background to English Renaissance poetry.
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 | Geordie Boy - The Anthology by Alan Price
Buy new: £8.88 / Used from: £8.99 Keyboardist of the legendary The Animals. Get if poss., otherwise any Anthology or Best Of.
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 | The Very Best of Jake Thackray by Jake Thackray
Buy new: £3.98 / Used from: £3.50 Late, great, utterly English folk/humour minstrel, influenced by Jacques Brel. Lah-di-dah and the sadly prophetic Last Will are classics.
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 | The Very Best of Peter Skellern by Peter Skellern
Buy new: £3.87 / Used from: £2.65 The English Randy Newman, including the classic You're A Lady.
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