A major contribution to the debate about English identity that locates the roots of Englishness in the cultural imagination.

It is brief, compelling and essential summer reading. This autumn it ought to be distributed to every post-GCSE history class in the country. It would rescue them from the footing syllabus at so-called A/S level, which is neither 'advanced' nor 'scholarly' and drags them down a year... It is so uplifting to read without clutter about these 'visions' of England and find an author who is not ashamed to include old favourites in his essay on them. He himself is living proof of their power, inspired as a boy by art and books and as an older man by the garden that he made on a bold scale. He is an answer, one among many, to the deconstructors and under-cutters of the very idea of Englishness. Gardeners will love his book. It is based on conviction and experience, guides to the threads he selects with lucidity.' Financial Times We should be grateful to Sir Roy Strong for this book. It is an exploration of the themes that shape our sense of England: a meditation, a hymn, a road map... It is a blueprint for the national identity England could promote today, as the Union fragments... Visions of England preaches peace, in a 'democratic and inclusive way'. It does not only represent the journey of Sir Roy's life, it sets a course that could, if only the authorities would wake up to it, be followed now -- Clive Aslet Country Life For someone who would like to know what it is to feel identifiably English, Sir Roy provides a useful tour. He takes us through some of the main iconography of the Tudor period, finding for himself the roots of his definition of the English temper and achievement. He moves beyond the Tudors soon enough, describing poetry, landscape and building, and by the time he reaches the Victorians he is also looking at interpretations of English culture by critics such as Matthew Arnold. -- Simon Heffer Spectator

Sir Roy Strong was director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1967 to 1971 and director of the Victoria & Albert Museum from 1974 to 1987, when he became a full-time writer, broadcaster and consultant. His books include The Story of Britain, The Arts in Britain, Coronation: A History of Kingship and the British Monarchy and, most recently, A Little History of the English Country Church.