This book is a masterly introduction to the growth and development of the country's arts: literature, music, poetry, painting, architecture, theatre and all the related subjects which over the centuries have given British intellectual and cultural life its unique character and vitality.
Running from the Celts to the present day, the arts are set within a vivid panorama of the social, economic, political and ideological forces which shaped them. There are cameos of those, like Cardinal Wolsey in the Tudor age and Kenneth Clark in our own, whose influence has both reflected and shaped the style and taste of a period.
This book defines what sets Britain culturally apart from mainland Europe as well as what unites it. Contains stunning illustrations and a descriptive bibliography to explore the arts of any period in greater depth and detail.
