Author:George Orwell,Ben Pimlott,Peter Davison
Including The Road to Wigan Pier
'No one wrote better about the English character than Orwell' New York Review of Books
Much of George Orwell's best writing, brought together in this collection, is concerned with his complex, often contradictory attitude to England. In the brilliantly perceptive The English People, he lists the national characteristics as 'suspicion of foreigners, sentimentality about animals, hypocrisy, exaggerated class distinctions and an obsession with sport'. The Road to Wigan Pier, his blistering account of poverty in the north of England, and many of his essays, attack what he called 'the most class-ridden country under the sun', while other writings here ruminate on the merits of cricket, gardening, roast dinners, pubs, tea and seaside postcards.
Edited by Peter Davison with an Introduction by Ben Pimlott
Pioneering...an impressive feat of scholarship. Clive Ponting has embraced a daunting task with commendable success.
—— Times Literary SupplementLarge, ambitious and often enthralling, it is a successful attempt to look at the unfolding of worlds history from an entirely new perspective...The joy and originality of this book is that Ponting offers us very little that is unfamiliar.
—— Literary ReviewFew single-volume efforts have covered so much ground in terms of sheer time-scale and territory, and the general reader will find plenty of useful reference material...Ponting is at his best on technology and the economy, and his description of Europe's waning influence since the 1940s makes perfect sense.
—— SpectatorThis is a history book with a difference. It is imaginative in its approach, courageous in its execution and expansive in its sweep of interest...His approach is radical and interesting...It is a fine example of how a radically new point of departure can cast light on a range of areas over which the specialists will continue to do battle long into the future.
—— Sunday Business PostA meticulously researched work of scholarship, but is also a delightfully personal account of Dalby's year among the geisha. Geisha remains [Dalby's] best-known work and is the bible of geisha studies to this day
—— Times Literary SupplementPopular history in the best sense...its attention to human detail and its commanding prose call to mind the best work of Barbara Tuchman
—— Washington Post