In Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination, Peter Ackroyd explores the enduring and distinct characteristics of English cultural identity across centuries of art and literature. He identifies a unique English sensibility rooted in the territorial spirit and a profound reverence for the antiquarian past. The text highlights how a hybrid culture emerged by assimilating various influences into a unified national voice, often characterized by melancholy, pragmatism, and a love for the grotesque. From the alliterative poetry of the Anglo-Saxons to the urban drama of Dickens and Hogarth, Ackroyd traces a consistent thread of imagination that transcends history. This overview suggests that the English genius is defined not by purity, but by an endless capacity for transformation within its own landscape.
