A History of England in 25 Poems - review

Our review of A History of England in 25 Poems, by Catherine Clarke, first published in September 2025. Spanning from Anglo-Saxon England to the 21st Century of King Charles III, Catherine Clarke tries to look beyond what happened and show us - through poetry - how people felt.I found this an enjoyable and occasionally emotionally powerful book. ★★★★☆ There is a seduction in reading history via poetry. For one thing it is quicker to read a poem than a narrative, so you can rattle through the years very efficiently. With poetry you also feel you are really getting to the essence of a thing: all that prose is boiled down until what you have left is super-saturated with meaning. Perhaps you have reached the truth. A history of the universe in 100 limericks It’s a format I have dabbled with myself in “A history of the universe in a 100 limericks”. Covering 100 time periods from the present day to the big bang (or visa versa, it’s up to you). After every 10 poems, the timescale zooms out…