Volume 30, Number 8 · May 12, 1983
A Great Place to Visit
By A.J.P. Taylor
The Intelligent Traveller's Guide to Historic Britain: England, Wales, the Crown Dependencies
by Philip A. Crowl, foreword by John Julius Norwich
Congdon and Weed, 814 pp., $19.95 (paper)
This is a monumental work in more than one sense. It catalogues virtually every historic monument in England from neolithic fragments of stone to museums devoted to the Second World War—no doubt when there is a second edition it will include museums devoted to the battle of the Falkland Islands. The book also describes the ways wars were fought, from primitive stone axes to the preliminaries of nuclear warfare. It tells how men and women lived, how they were dressed, what they ate and drank, and their outlook on both religion and politics. The book contains a precise history of England from the Stone Age to the end of the Second World War. Every monarch and every leading politician is accounted for. The first 500 pages combine narrative and guidebook. The remaining 250 pages contain a gazetteer, listing everything that the intelligent traveler in England should see.
Review, 3140 words
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