![]() ![]() Revelatory things are all about us if we take the time to look. The opening of medievalist Marc Morris’s latest book recounts the discovery of a treasure trove of coin, gold, and artifacts found by accident in Suffolk by someone with a metal detector who was looking for a lost hammer. It numbs the inquiring mind, imposes specious value judgements, expresses impatience with debate, and lacks empathy with the past. ![]() Morris’s brand of history is a relic of the Dickensian schoolroom. Morris’s canon of knowledge centred on great men impoverishes us all. He seems to think he can write a history of the Anglo-Saxons that ignores the social and cultural frameworks that shaped life at that time. Though he advises his readers of the necessity of marginalizing 50 per cent of the population, Morris’s focus on kings and bishops marginalizes 99 per cent. He explains in his introduction: 'Sadly, none of the chapters is focused on a woman, because there is simply not evidence to sustain such an extended treatment'. We might ask, what about women? Morris expresses concern. ![]() Morris reassures us that great men built England. A political narrative from the Romans to the Normans, it focuses on the lives of great men: kings, bishops and warlords. His book is packaged as a history of English origins. Marc Morris invites us to pursue that feeling to discover the foundations of our country. ![]()
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