| In Search of England (In Search of) | 
 enlarge | Author: H.v. Morton
Publisher: Methuen Publishing Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 233224
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0413544907
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9780413544902
ASIN: 0413544907
Publication Date: April 13, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: DESPATCHED FROM UK, BOOKS SHIPPED DAILY.
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| Customer Reviews:
 A national treasure May 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is, simply, a wonderful book that is an utter joy to read. It must be a mark of the quality of writing that, reading over 80 years later, you still feel as if the ink hasn't yet dried, so fresh and immediate is the style.
In an engagingly witty journey through (mostly rural) England in the late 1920s, Mr Morton's writing conjures up all the sights and sounds that he encounters, from haunted gothic ruins to sunny vicarage gardens.
Throughout the writing, Mr Morton's affection and awe for the land, its people and its history come through. And it's refreshing to read a book devoid of the sort of cynicism and pessimism that marks much modern writing.
 "The World's Favourite Travel Writer"? November 17, 2007
I was intrigued by the tagline "By The World's Favourite Travel Writer" and liked the idea of a book about England in the 1920s. "English Journey" by J.B. Priestley, set a decade later, is one of my favourite travel books and I was hoping for more of the same. H.V. Morton's style just didn't quite work for me, though. For me, Priestley had a much better eye for social history and chose a more interesting route. Morton spends a long time in the south-west and avoids the industrial Midlands. This is largely about rural England and while it is certainly novel to see a community that had more life in it than it does today, it didn't hold my interest.
Another test for a travel book is whether it makes you intrigued enough to visit yourself or at least to go and Google the place. Morton just didn't do that for me. It's all readable enough - it just doesn't move me.
"The World's Favourite Travel Writer"? I think not.
H V Morton vs Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux June 6, 2000
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Picked up a reprinted copy of In search of England (& In Search of Ireland) recently, very enjoyable, especially comparing H V Morton's impressions and experiences against Bill Bryson (Notes from a Small Island) & Paul Theroux (Kingdom by the Sea). England in the late 20's seems idyllic, no mention of traffic jams, noise, pollution etc. but idle conversations are still a great pleasure to the lone traveller.
ALL TIME CLASSIC IN PRINT AGAIN ! May 12, 2000
29 out of 29 found this review helpful
I rate this book as the best ever of its type. After many years abroad, Morton set out in his car one morning in the mid-twenties and went on a tour of his home country. The record of the trip is presented in this book. The contrast between England seventy-five years ago and the England of today is of course a huge one, but one of the themes of this book is the gulf between twenties England and the England of Morton's boyhood. Morton visits many well-known landmarks on his travels and his excellent, affectionate descriptions allow the reader to appreciate the changes that have taken place. The best recommendation I can give is that this book makes the reader want to get into their car and follow in Morton's footsteps (or perhaps tyre-tracks) and see the country in which they might live, but with which they are surprisingly unfamiliar.
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