England, Their England
{{distinguish|England, My England|England Your England}}
{{Infobox book
| name = England, Their England
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = England, Their England cover.jpg
| image_size =
| caption= First edition
| author = A. G. Macdonell
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series =
| subject =
| genre = Social satire
| publisher = MacMillan
| pub_date = Dec. 1933
| media_type = Print (hardcover)
| pages = ix pages, 1 leaf, 299 pages, 20 cm.
foreword by Christopher Morley
(first edition)[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/366073&referer=brief_results Worldcat listing for 1933 edition].
| oclc = 366073
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = How Like An Angel (1934)
}}
England, Their England (1933) is an affectionately satirical comic novel of 1920s English urban and rural society by the Scottish writer A. G. Macdonell. It is particularly famed for its portrayal of village cricket.Charles Loch Mowat. Britain Between the wars: 1918-1940. Taylor & Francis, (1978) {{ISBN|978-0-416-29510-8}} p. 521
Social satire
One of a genre at the time, the novel examines the changing nature of English society during the interwar period.Mike Sutton. [http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/england.htm England, whose England? Class, gender and national identity in the 20th century folklore revival]. Musical Traditions. #53. Accessed 2009-05-22. The style and subject matter recall the works of Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Macdonell's contemporaries, as well as earlier writers such as Jerome K. Jerome. It is also known for its description of traditional village cricket. The novel is purported to be a roman à clef.L. J. Hurst. [http://www.rbd26.dial.pipex.com/agm_ete.htm A.G. Macdonell's England, Their England (1933) Who was who?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070815233912/http://www.rbd26.dial.pipex.com/agm_ete.htm |date=2007-08-15 }}. 2007. The novel won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1933. The title alludes to the refrain "England, My England" of the poem "Pro Rege Nostro" by William Ernest Henley.
Plot
Set in 1920s England, the book takes the form of a travel memoir by a young Scotsman who has been invalided away from the Western Front, "Donald Cameron", whose father's will forces him to reside in England. There he writes for a series of London newspapers, before being commissioned by a Welshman to write a book about the English from the view of a foreigner. Taking to the country and provincial cities, Donald spends his time doing research for a book on the English by consorting with journalists and minor poets, attending a country house weekend, serving as private secretary to a Member of Parliament, attending the League of Nations, and playing village cricket. The village cricket match is the most celebrated episode in the novel, and a reason cited for its enduring appeal. An important character is Mr Hodge, a caricature of Sir John Squire (poet and editor of the London Mercury), while the cricket team described in the book's most famous chapter is a representation of Sir John's Cricket Club – the Invalids – which survives today.Jeremy Paul. Sing Willow. Book Guild Ltd, Lewes. (2002) {{ISBN|1-85776-688-1}} The true history of the Invalids Cricket Club The book ends in the ancient city of Winchester, where Macdonell went to school.
References
{{Reflist}}
- Margaret Drabble and Jenny Stringer. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-EnglandTheirEngland.html "England, Their England." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature]. (2003). Accessed May 23, 2009.
External links
- {{FadedPage|id=20110106|name=England, Their England}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:British comedy novels
Category:British political satire
Category:British satirical novels
Category:Macmillan Publishers books
Category:Novels set in the 1920s
Category:Cultural depictions of English people
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