England and the English

by Ford Madox Ford, Sara Haslam

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Nonfiction

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals The English Review and The Transatlantic Review were important in the development of early 20th-century English and American literature.

Ford is now remembered for his novels The Good Soldier (1915), the Parade's End tetralogy (1924–1928) and The Fifth Queen trilogy (1906–1908). The Good Soldier is frequently included among the great literature of the 20th century, including the Modern Library 100 Best Novels, The Observer′s "100 Greatest Novels of All Time", and The Guardian′s "1000 novels everyone must read".

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH is a detailed "state of the nation" type non-fiction read from Ford Madox Ford, essential for anyone interested in late Victorian/Edwardian England. It's split into three volumes, each of them exploring a different aspect of what it means to be English. The first explores the city of London, with a breadth of detail and character reminiscent of Dickens at his best. The second moves into the heart of the country for an exploration of rural character and tradition. The third examines the English character, often in respect to world standing. Times have changed since this was written, but some of it still holds true, and as a whole this is a neat snapshot of a way of life and a character that would completely change just a few years after this was written.

[Humphrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating to any readers of Ford, particularly, of course, his earlier work. His conception of belonging and identity is awfully ahead of its times, for a period when racial characterization was rampant. I personally believe his process of assimilation into a culture that is yet itself pulled by such assimilations is much more desirable than the whitewash approach of, say, the American melting pot.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are actually three volumes in this one book, and I've only read the last one, The Spirit of the People. But it's an interesting enough read if you are interested in ideas of Englishness in the early to mid twentieth century.