Essentially English

By Patrick Ward

This volume of colour photographs celebrates England and all things quintessentially English: the tranquility of the English countryside, the magnificence of pomp and pageantry, the eccentricity of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843170035
• ISBN13: 9781843170037
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books Ltd.
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 1.9"

Customer Reviews

English eccentricity captured in pictures

Let's make clear straight away that, as the title suggests, this is a book about England, not Britain. I suspect that the author (or somebody else) could produce equally interesting books about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (the author actually makes clear that he will leave those countries to other photographers), but England provides plenty of entertaining material by itself. There isn't much text here - just a three-page introduction and a brief description of each photograph - but there are other books that cover Englishness in words rather than pictures. In that introduction, the author-photographer explains that England's often dull weather is perfect for photography. Perhaps it is for an expert like him, but I suspect that most amateurs will stick to the old idea that sunshine provides the best environment for photographers. The author makes clear that this book is about the English having fun, although he acknowledges that there is another side to English life. So this book is as much about escapism as anything else. The first two pictures illustrate scenes from a folk music festival, one showing a fiddler whose instrument has a Union Jack painted on it, while the other shows a group of Morris dancers, with one of them dominating the picture and the rest in the background. Perhaps these two pictures really sum up the spirit of the book. There are five pictures of spectators at Royal Ascot (but not horses, though there is a lovely picture of racehorses returning from a training exercise in Yorkshire). Elsewhere, horse lovers will find appealing pictures including the Appleby horse fair (in the north of England) and the New Forest show (in the south). The seaside is another setting for several pictures, including one showing a packed beach where a concert was being staged. Brighton's broken and rotting West Pier provides the background. The caption says it awaits restoration but I don't think that is likely now, there having been a fire since the book was published. Getting back to the fun, other seaside pictures come from Bognor, feature the annual sandcastle and birdman competitions. At the time of publication, nobody in the birdman competition had been able to claim the prize for covering 100 metres airborne. As far as I know, nobody has succeeded since, but still they try. There are many rural scenes, but I particularly like the picture of a car surrounded by a flock of sheep going in the opposite direction. He had to wait at the side of the road while the flock went on its way. Rural people have their own traditional competitions and some of them are pictured here including woolsack racing and cheese rolling. Reconstructions of old battles also feature, including the famous one near Hastings in 1066. The English, more than any other nation, like to wallow in nostalgia and this theme runs through the book. There are two pictures of scenes at steam traction engine rallies as well as two pictures from a veteran car rally. Buses