The spirit of Britain : a narrative history of the arts / Roy Strong

London : Hutchinson, 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description; 708 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm. Notes; Includes bibliographical references (p. [686]-693) and index. Summary; From the Celts to the present day, Strong highlights the political, economic and social forces that have driven the course of the arts. In addition he has inserted cameos of people such as Cardinal Wolsey in Tudor England and Kenneth Clark in the 20th century whose taste and influence have reached beyond their individual lives. Review: It would be easy to dismiss this book. The title is misleading: it is not so much about Britain as England. The perspective is eccentric: Strong writes, he says, as an unashamed elitist, a monarchist, a practising Christian and a committed European (so many convictions!). Much of the history is derivative, and depends on the researches of others. I looked carefully at Strong's judgements on the writers I knew best, and they seemed to me to be wrong when they weren't merely commonplace. And yet: the book is written with real narrative verve, and the story of the arts - especially the visual arts - is compellingly told. This is a book to be read through or not to be read at all. Pause, and doubts flood in. Yet read in just a few sittings, it offers many pleasures. Strong writes conversationally, and imparts his information in a relaxed, authoritative manner. Much of what he has to say is interesting enough, and the closing chapters are enjoyably opinionated. Strong's case for the arts is that they can unify an otherwise fractured society, beset by globalization and divided by class and religion. People need a 'familiar rock to cling to', provided by 'the island's achievements in the arts and of those aspects of them which have set us apart.' Chief among these aspects, says Strong, is conservatism, 'an instinctive yearning to look backwards to the past.' The Spirit of Britain does just this, in some style. Review by ANTHONY JULIUS (Kirkus UK) Subjects; Arts, British. Arts, British � History. Arts � Great Britain � History. Great Britain � Civilization. Art. Britain. Art, British - History. Nationhood. England � Art. Scotland � Art. Wales � Art. The arts: general issues ; British & Irish history ; Cultural studies. United Kingdom, Great Britain. HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain.