A look at the "Medieval Revival" in England between the mid-18th and mid-20th century, Michael Alexander's work was most interesting to me in its earliest chapters. As Medievalism progressed, however, it became increasingly a literary analysis/history that presumes a great deal of familiarity with a certain set of British authors, and my engagement with Alexander's fairly dense prose waned. I feel like there must be more to say about politics, history, education, etc., than Alexander encompassed here—and even when it comes just to literature, surely a greater role for women in the narrative laid out here.

(Also, as an Irishwoman, Alexander's framing of Séamus Heaney as a British poet even though he clearly knows better made me side-eye him intensely. There's also some sloppy phrasing later on which at least made it seem like he was saying the same of the Dublin-born-and-raised Peter Brown.) ( )

A study of the "Medieval Revival" in England beginning with the rise of gothic literature in the 1760s and extending well into the twentieth century (encompassing art, architecture, literature, printing, &c.). Well made and beautifully illustrated. ( )