The English: The Evolution of Englishness from 430-1700 - Hardcover

This book sets out to explore the quality of Englishness that distinguishes the people, not only from the rest of Europe, but also from their closer neighbours in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It is not another comprehensive history of the English-speaking people but the story of the development of English culture and personality from the Anglo-Saxon invasion to the Industrial Revolution. Much of the story has been revealed by archeologists whose excavated buildings and objects have changed traditional views of the English. Malcolm Billings studies the places which best demonstrate how the English were living at the time. He also focuses on individual kings, queens and literary giants such as Chaucer and Shakespeare, as well as on little known individuals from the worlds of chivalry, politics, religion and learning, who did so much to shape the national character of the English.