In Search of England: Journeys Into the English Past

Michael Wood is a rare historian - one who loves books and land, and people. Erudite, enthusiastic, plangent and moving, "In Search of England" is a life-changing history for anyone who reads it. Wood obviously loves Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval as well, although the book also draws connections reaching into early modern, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. So the whole continuum is there.The book falls into three sections:1. Myth and History. Wood excavates the popularity of icons such as King Arthur, sifting the evidence to pin them down in real time. The sociology is interesting, particularly in the case of Robin Hood ("Merrie Englande").2. Manuscripts and Mysteries. Wearing his learning lightly, Wood shows the fascination of books, tracing one little book on its journey all the way back to Northern Italy. Wood revels in the tales of John Leland, antiquarian to Henry VIII; of Bishop Asser, who wrote the biography of Alfred the Great; and of a possible biography of King Athelstan, Alfred's grandson. 3. Landscapes and People. I first regarded this section with some dread. How was it going to hold my interest, with such local emphasis? But each chapter, with each place subtly differentiated, sheds a fascinating light on England. And in each, Wood does take a journey, justifying the subtitle of his book: "JOURNEYS Into the English Past". He explores a craftsman ("The Last Bowl-Turner of England"); a wood where Athelstan defeated the Vikings in 937AD ("Tinsley Wood"); "A Devon House" is all about continuity of occupancy; "Peatling Magna" shows a village community becoming politicized in 1265; "Jarrow and English History" deals with the beginnings of English historical writings under the Venerable Bede. Best is last. The "Epilogue: "An English Family", shows both multiculturalism and patriotism off to their best effect, bringing things bang up to date with an incredible twist on your expectations as a reader.Yes, it helps if you know English history. If you don't, read this book with a date chart or search some of the people and places mentioned above on the Web first. And when you read this book, prepare to feel uplifted and humbled, and privileged to be on this planet, Earth. Wood will immediately take his place on your list of ideal drinking companions.

Michael Wood has such a tremendous enthusiasm for history and books, it is impossible not to swept along by his joy. If you had not seen his television series, you might picture him as a hunched over academic scrouging through his books. No, he is a very energetic outdoorsy type with a real charm and flair for history. I read this book after reading his work on the Trojan War and Alexander the Great. Both are fine books, particularly his amazing quest in the footsteps of Alexander. This work is a far better book, more detailed and more personal. He ranges over thousands of years of English history and enjoys bouncing ideas through time and space. Wood is at his best when his describes the joy of old books and the historical treasure they contain. The pain of libraries being destroyed are very real in Wood's work.The book is collection of largely unrelated essays are based on the title of H.V Morton's travel books. I enjoyed immensely his item on Morton and the story behind his stories.The essay on an old english wood is one of the best pieces of historical detective work I have read - all the better in that he does not answer the question he sets out with.The essays do not jell as a group into a systematic view of English history. They are the work of a highly gifted story teller who enjoys the practice and art of history.

Although academics may dismiss Wood's populist histories both in print and on TV, he has a rare knack of connecting history with the daily life of us common folk and that alone makes him worth reading.This 1999 work follows up on his other "In Search..." (Dark Ages, Trojan War, Alexander the Great, First Civilizations, Domesday). Essentially the series excavates legends and myths, some famous, some obscure, and relates a story about finding or visiting the site of the original.In this one, Wood investigates the last wooden bowl turner in England, tracks a millenium old continuously used farmstead, the long argued site of Athelstan's 937 victory, Bede's church at Jarrow...15 in all...and all supplemented with judiciously chosen artwork.A wonderful winter's night read in the classic sense of a soft chair, warm fire, nice drink, and favorite pet....with the place all to yourself.....this one can take you there.

I always pick up Wood's newest work in English history with high anticipation and I've never been disappointed yet. This volume is a collection of semi-independent chapters collected under three themes. "Myth and History" includes essays that discuss the historical notion of the "Norman yoke," an exceptional piece on the meaning of "Englishness," and three good summary updates on the status of research into King Arthur, Robin Hood, and Glastonbury as Avalon. "Manuscripts and Mysteries" is a fascinating series of paleographical and bibliological essays on John Leland's visit to the library of Glastonbury Abbey on the eve of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, a re-examination of the authenticity of Asser's life of King Alfred, a reconstitution of the lost "Life of Athelstan," and an investigation of the peregrinations of a little psalter now in the British Library. "Landscapes and People" covers the artifactual side of English history, with the stories of the last bowl-turner in England (using pre-Conquest technology well into the 20th century), Tinsley Wood in South Yorkshire as the possibly location of the key Battle of Brunanburh, Bury Barton in north Devon as a probable surviving Roman/Anglo-Saxon farmstead, the resistence by the villagers of Peatling Magna in 1265 against the king following the Battle of Evesham (the peasants took the king's Marshal to court!), the story of Bede's tenure at Jarrow and what has happened to the site since, and a thoroughly fascinating genealogical story involving the exact origins of the ex-slaves of Barbuda. To anyone with the slightest interest in English medieval history and society, this book will be a rich and very satisfying experience.

The English and television were made for each other. Although the sun has set on the British Empire, a peculiar sort of English genius for analyzing and explaining history emerged after WWII. It is a genius that flowered because of television. Michael Wood, trained as an historian at Oxford (note that the flyleaf of his book on the Trojan War says his master's degree is in 20th century history while Maryland Public Television claims he was trained as a medievalist), is the latest in a line of charismatic English (his surname ought to be Anglo-Saxon) telehistorians. He is both scholar and journalist. My introduction to Michael Wood was through his series, "In Search of the Trojan War," in which Wood began as a sort of detective, looking for the people and places behind Homer's epic, and, who, along the way, taught the public- television-public a great deal about history and archaeology and how computers can be used by practitioners of both disciplines. Although there does not seem to be a video tie-in with Wood's latest book, this is, essentially, a book for the public-television-public: educated, curious people who don't mind the felling of an idol or two. It is well-written and witty, erudite but not overbearingly so. This is not a book for people who want a quick, general overview of history. Wood seemed to have two purposes: to examine what it means to be English at the present time and to look into the myths that have made England England. Which means that it is also not a book for the legions of New Agers, the Celtic Revivialists and sentimental spiritualists of any stripe. He is, however, fair to both Celticists and Anglo-Saxonists: he can find neither an historic Arthur nor an historic Robin Hood. We need populizers: people like Wood with specialized training in a discipline who can bring their knowledge to a wide audience. I was trained as an historian at Harvard, where a professor answered the question, "Do you think Arthur lived?" with the story of Dunstan's finding of Arthur's tomb complete with lead placque at Glastonbury. It is perhaps important to the future of the English nation that people not believe that the body of a tall man and his blonde wife were found in a remote abbey in the Middle Ages. It is important that we know exactly who Alfred the Great really was. It is also important that our current charismatic English telehistorian is a real scholar and a gentleman with a fine sense of humor. Read this book.