Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #839698 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
A narrative story of the making of the myth of the English. In this study, acclaimed author Maureen Duffy surveys 3000 years of English and British history, illuminating the myths that have come to be such an important part of our national identity. "England: The Making of the Myth from Stonehenge to Albert Square" aims to change your view of England's past - and England's future.

Customer Reviews

The Horrible History of the English
1066 And All That did it with more irony, but Duffy's gallop through English history sheds light on the way we see ourselves. The early bits are the best, asking such questions as Who are the English? How dark were the Dark Ages? Why does nobody ever mention the Romans? Why isn't pre-1066 history on the curriculum (or maybe it is now)? But she devotes so much energy to telling the story (Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee, divorced, beheaded, died) that relating it to the myth of the English gets rather lost. The myth could have been more clearly stated, and linked to various events and the way they're usually presented. She wavers, though, when she gets near the present day, and falls flat on her face when talking about how the English speak. Estuary (that spreading modern London accent) she thinks is an attempt to be "refined"! Well, gorblimey! And she thinks John Betjeman's Phone for the Fishknives, Norman is a parody of a way of speech she claims is known by snobs as "doyle" (short for doyley). I have often mixed in company with snobs and have never in the course of a long life heard the term "doyle" for a refined attempt to rise in the social scale. The poem is about the words people use for things, not about the way words are pronounced. And she seems to think it is Norman who is invited to tea and told to put his boots up on the couch. Surely it's a female friend the speaker wants to impress?