It’s difficult being English, and Caroline Lucas has written a helpful book for the English to find their way and for the Irish, Welsh and Scots to cut us all a bit of slack.
Being English is not necessarily being a racist skinhead with a cross of St George tattoo. What is the left of centre route to English patriotism? I wouldn’t have expected such a very good guide from Caroline Lucas, but what would I know? For a long time she has been a stand-out MP with a great command of environmental matters (she has always impressed me and I have been a professional in this area) but this book is a step up into another area of expertise. It’s a very good read.
Over 80% of the UK population lives in England and those outnumber the residents of Scotland by more than 10 to 1, Wales by 18 to 1 and Northern Ireland by 30 to 1,so the idea that the four UK nations are in any way equivalent in human capital is nonsense. The English are also encumbered by having London embedded in our southeast corner. London alone has a larger population than Scotland, and much larger than Wales and Northern Ireland combined, and yet, despite all appearances to the contrary in the media, it represents a mere seventh of the population of England. Here, in Northamptonshire, I am only about 50 miles from Trafalgar Square but it seems every bit as distant in culture and relevance as do Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.
This book is rooted as much in literature as in ecology or politics, and its good to see the very strong representation of John Clare compared with the likes of Wordsworth here.
Yes the book touches on Brexit, land ownership, climate change, Robin Hood, refugees, HS2, wars and more but there is much about the countryside and its wildlife as well as its people.
This is a very fine book and a very good read. I gobbled most of it up as soon as it arrived in the post a few days ago. I recommend it highly. It’s St George’s Day on Tuesday.
The cover? Nothing special, I’d give it 6/10.
Another England: how to reclaim our national story by Caroline Lucas is published by Hutchinson/Heinemann.
Buy direct from Blackwell’s – a proper bookshop (and I’ll get a little bit of money from them)
