A History of England in 25 Poems

A literary tour through English history... A charming mix of history, travel and literature, inspiring the reader to set forth to discover the English countryside – and to reread the poems aloud at the sites that inspired their creation

Alice Loxton, History Extra, Best History Books of 2025

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

Clarke's deeply researched book is no mere anthology; it celebrates the power of poems to transport readers to the settings in which they were written (or spoken), from the 7th-century Venerable Bede to a post-Brexit cricket green. Along the way Clarke's reading of the poems casts light on ideas of English history, legacy and identity

Maria Crawford, The FT Weekend

An ambitious, thoughtful book that attempts to tell the messy, contested story of the nation... While being lightly written, Clarke’s book is deeply researched, and takes us to some very unexpected places

Nathan Brooker, The FT

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

HOW good to find a historian who values literature, a critic who knows about history! [...] Professor Clarke has laid out her book well with regard to its history, and sensitively in her literary criticism. This is a highly recommendable read for anyone interested in history or literature, and a model of how the two disciplines can be brought together harmoniously, each throwing light on the other

Dr Nicholas Orne, Church Times

I couldn't put it down

Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6