A History of England in 25 Poems

This is a marvellous idea, quite brilliantly realised. Catherine Clarke takes 25 poems, from Caedmon’s Hymn and The Battle of Maldon to Edward Thomas’s Adlestrop and Geoffrey Hill’s September Song, and uses them as windows into the English past, from politics and plagues to nature and nostalgia. Her book is a winning blend of jolly ballads and melancholy reflections, alive to the ways in which the meanings of England and Englishness are never fixed, always changing – Dominic Sandbrook * The Times, Best Books of the Year 2025 *A literary tour through English history… A charming mix of history, travel and literature, inspiring the reader to set forth to discover the English countryside – and to reread the poems aloud at the sites that inspired their creation – Alice Loxton * History Extra, Best History Books of 2025 *Catherine Clarke traces centuries of English thought and poetry, from the time of Beowulf to the protests written in the wake of Brexit. She weaves together the personal and the public with stories of the Danelaw, French nobles, Yorkshire miners, and the heart-rending plight of the 16th-century Protestant martyr Anne Askew. An excellent, all-encompassing read * The Idler *Catherine Clarke uses an eclectic mix of verse — satirical, scabrous, tragic, lyrical — to tell the English national story… the emotional intimacy of poetry (aided by Clarke’s careful, historically informed analysis) offers valuable insights into great historical events – Katherine Harvey * The Times *One to read for anybody who’s ever climbed a lamp-post to put up a flag; or indeed climbed a lamp-post to pull one down again – Hugo Rifkind * Times Radio *Clarke’s deeply researched book is no mere anthology; it celebrates the power of poems to transport readers to the settings in which they were written (or spoken), from the 7th-century Venerable Bede to a post-Brexit cricket green. Along the way Clarke’s reading of the poems casts light on ideas of English history, legacy and identity – Maria Crawford * The FT Weekend *An ambitious, thoughtful book that attempts to tell the messy, contested story of the nation… While being lightly written, Clarke’s book is deeply researched, and takes us to some very unexpected places – Nathan Brooker * The FT *Offering poetic vantage points on 1,300 years of war, pastoralism and pestilence, it does exactly what it says on the cover… Clarke constantly balances the energies and elegies of our national tale to deliver a wonderfully refreshing book – Gavin Plumley * Country Life *HOW good to find a historian who values literature, a critic who knows about history! […] Professor Clarke has laid out her book well with regard to its history, and sensitively in her literary criticism. This is a highly recommendable read for anyone interested in history or literature, and a model of how the two disciplines can be brought together harmoniously, each throwing light on the other – Dr Nicholas Orne * Church Times *I couldn’t put it down – Cerys Matthews * BBC Radio 6 *

Catherine Clarke is a Professor at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, and Director of the Victoria County History of England. She was previously Professor of English Literature at the University of Southampton, where she remains a Visiting Professor.

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