Country Life magazine is a hundred years old. In Country Life: 1897-1997 The
English Arcadia, (Boxtree, £20, ISBN 0 7522 1054 8), Roy Strong traces the
history of this quintessentially English institution. He uncovers an editorial
idealism drunk on the romantic obsession of England as rural idyll, a vision
reinforced by the book’s many evocative photographs. The magazine’s longevity is
a testament to the attraction of an ideal which has transcended social class.
Strong highlights the important role it has played in nurturing a public
understanding of heritage and conservation, but also acknowledges its pervasive
elitism and often loose connection to reality. England has never looked so
good.
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