The Country and the City
Exploring the evolving perceptions of urban and rural life
Raymond Williams author Tristram Hunt editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:4th Feb '16
Should be back in stock very soon
This insightful exploration examines how our perceptions of urban and rural landscapes have evolved over time in The Country and the City.
Taking inspiration from classic authors from Jane Austen to Thomas Hardy, The Country and the City shines a light on our society’s evolving perspectives on rural and industrial landscapes. This exploration reveals how our collective notions of city and countryside shape our experiences and identities. The city, often viewed as a hub of enlightenment, sophistication, and power, stands in stark contrast to the innocent and tranquil countryside, which can be seen as backward yet idyllic.
In The Country and the City, Williams delves into literature from the sixteenth century onward, tracing the development of these two essential symbols of life. The dichotomy between urban and rural settings serves as a lens through which we can examine the profound social and economic changes brought about by capitalist development. This groundbreaking study not only reflects on literary traditions but also engages with the historical context that has influenced our understanding of these landscapes.
With an introduction by Tristram Hunt, this work serves as a significant contribution to social, literary, and intellectual history. Williams, often regarded as the godfather of the 'New Left', encourages readers to reconsider the implications of our geographical and cultural divides, making The Country and the City a vital read for anyone interested in the intersection of literature and society.
While written with the energy of political engagement, it is a critically generous book... Even where you would read something differently, there is space to disagree
-- John Mullan * Guardian *His complex character, indeed his whole life, was held together by two qualities - scholarship and political conviction - which made him a major influence on three decades of political thought * Independent *
I went back to my own edition of The Country and the City... Certain books are held dear because they are also psychic landmarks revealing where and how they helped us come into consciousness. Inevitably, our perception of the world continues to be informed by such texts long after the precise details of their contents have been forgotten. -- Geoff Dyer * New Statesman *
He was the foremost political thinker of his generation in Britain who in his most formidable books, Culture And Society, The Long Revolution and The Country and the City, redrew the map of our cultural history, and elsewhere made heroic interventions in the main political debates of his time * Guardian *
The first thing that struck me about this book when I read it as an undergraduate was the personable charm of the narrator. Embarking on a topic which could hardly be broader or grander: the study of how literature has described the world; he starts with his own country, with his own city. His emotion about his birthplace his sense of belonging, is so powerful, that the book reads at times like an autobiography, like a love-letter to the country of his childhood -- Philippa Gregory * Independe
ISBN: 9781784870829
Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 34mm
Weight: 355g
512 pages