A History of England in 25 Poems
  • Published: 25 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9780241765982
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $55.00

A History of England in 25 Poems

Formats & editions
Hardback
25 Nov 2025
EBook
4 Sep 2025
Audiobook
4 Sep 2025
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A delightful, thoughtful and original new way to understand England's history

This is the history of England told in a new way: glimpsed through twenty-five remarkable poems written down between the eighth century and today, which connect us directly with the nation’s past, and the experiences, emotions and imaginations of those who lived it.

These poems open windows onto wildly different worlds – from the public to the intimate, from the witty to the savage, from the playful to the wistful. They take us onto battlefields, inside royal courts, down coal mines and below stairs in great houses. Their creators, witnesses to events from the Great Fire of London to the Miners’ Strike, range from the famous to the forgotten, yet each invites us into an immersive encounter with their own time.

A History of England in 25 Poems is a portal to the past; a constant companion, filled with vivid voices and surprising stories alongside familiar landmarks, and language that speaks in new ways on each reading. Catherine Clarke’s knowledge and passion take us inside the words and the moments they capture, with thoughtful insights, humour and new perspectives on how the nation has dreamed itself into existence – and who gets to tell England’s story.
  • Published: 25 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9780241765982
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $55.00
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Praise for A History of England in 25 Poems

Catherine Clarke traces centuries of English thought and poetry, from the time of Beowulf to the protests written in the wake of Brexit. She weaves together the personal and the public with stories of the Danelaw, French nobles, Yorkshire miners, and the heart-rending plight of the 16th-century Protestant martyr Anne Askew. An excellent, all-encompassing read

The Idler

Catherine Clarke uses an eclectic mix of verse — satirical, scabrous, tragic, lyrical — to tell the English national story… the emotional intimacy of poetry (aided by Clarke’s careful, historically informed analysis) offers valuable insights into great historical events

Katherine Harvey, The Times

One to read for anybody who’s ever climbed a lamp-post to put up a flag; or indeed climbed a lamp-post to pull one down again

Hugo Rifkind, Times Radio

Offering poetic vantage points on 1,300 years of war, pastoralism and pestilence, it does exactly what it says on the cover... Clarke constantly balances the energies and elegies of our national tale to deliver a wonderfully refreshing book

Gavin Plumley, Country Life