Foundation
The History of England Volume I
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- 89,00 kr
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- 89,00 kr
Utgivarens beskrivning
From Neolithic times to the dawn of the Tudor age, Peter Ackroyd's enthralling journey through England's history begins.
In Foundation, acclaimed author Peter Ackroyd turns his attention to England, taking readers on a captivating journey spanning over 15,000 years. Beginning with the earliest Neolithic settlements, glimpsed through tantalizing archaeological finds, Ackroyd guides us through the Roman era, the Dark Ages of ceaseless invasions, and the medieval period, with its magnificent churches, monasteries, and the birth of common law.
Ackroyd's rich prose brings to life the familiar succession of monarchs, while offering profound insights and surprising details about the food, clothing, punishments, and even jokes of each era. From the stirrup found in a grave to the seeds at the bottom of a bowl, Foundation uncovers the essence of England's past.
Immerse yourself in the gripping narrative of England's history, from the Saxons and Vikings to the Tudors, as Peter Ackroyd expertly evokes the eras of the Normans, Angevins, Plantagenets, and the pivotal events of the Magna Carta and Hundred Years' War.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This first in a projected six-volume history by ber-prolific novelist and literary biographer Ackroyd (London: The Biography) starts with the Stone Age, devotes most of its pages to the Middle Ages, and ends with the death of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, in 1509. Beginning with the earliest archeological remains dating to 900,000 years ago, Ackroyd continues from the first to the 13th centuries. when England was continually colonized and exploited by foreigners, including various Germanic tribes such as the Angles and Saxons, Vikings, and Normans. Ackroyd's parade of monarchs includes mostly ruthless abusers of England's resources, while the author also outlines gradual steps toward democracy. The first Plantagenet king, Henry II, imposed a system of national justice and destroyed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket; King John was forced to guarantee his barons' rights through the Magna Carta; and Edward I established the Parliament, but brutalized Scots and Jews. Although the storytelling is witty, provocative, and highly readable, the history is flawed too many years are stuffed into one volume to be truly satisfying, and Ackroyd's repeated claims about deep continuity often feel forced, such as linking the Kentish uprising against Richard III to a modern-day Kentish miners' strike as a sign of the people's fierce independence. 51 illus.
