Highly original and magnificent in scope, Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination uncovers the roots of English cultural history in the Anglo-Saxon period and traces it through the centuries. What does it mean to be English? This stunning book demonstrates that a distinctively English quality can be found in all forms of English culture, not only in literature but also in painting, music, architecture, philosophy, and science. Just as London: The Biography guides the reader through the capital with a mixture of narrative and theme, so too does Albion, using the same techniques, engage the reader with stories and surprises - From Beowulf to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, through Chaucer and Shakespeare, to the Bronte sisters, Alice through the Looking Glass and the Lord of the Rings. Intelligent, provocative, and narrative-driven, this is Peter Ackroyd at his most brilliant and expressive.