I thought more about this article last night. I think it is excellent, but there is perhaps something missing (although you do allude to it when you talk about a "driving energy for expansion").
Your interest in anthropology aligns with another very Saxon trait: a love of the exotic, far-flung places of the world. There are few cultures on earth that have displayed a similar enthusiasm for visiting and understanding obscure and foreign peoples.
To what extent then does the American fascination with the frontier derive from the Anglo? Why did we seek to master the sea? Perhaps we are Faustian Man par excellence.
This is why England seems so odd (and oddly depressing) to me in Summer and at its best in Autumn and Winter. The accretions of ages have to be seen under fog and grey skies to appear as a unified whole. In sunlight you only see the discontinuities.
I thought more about this article last night. I think it is excellent, but there is perhaps something missing (although you do allude to it when you talk about a "driving energy for expansion").
Your interest in anthropology aligns with another very Saxon trait: a love of the exotic, far-flung places of the world. There are few cultures on earth that have displayed a similar enthusiasm for visiting and understanding obscure and foreign peoples.
To what extent then does the American fascination with the frontier derive from the Anglo? Why did we seek to master the sea? Perhaps we are Faustian Man par excellence.
This is beautiful and so relatable. Had to link to it in my latest piece since you expressed the idea of ‘thick time’ better than I could.
Scruton lives.
Beautiful writing: it reminds me very much of Tolkien's 'Lament for the Rohirrim'.
This was a very nice read. Thanks for sharing.
This is why England seems so odd (and oddly depressing) to me in Summer and at its best in Autumn and Winter. The accretions of ages have to be seen under fog and grey skies to appear as a unified whole. In sunlight you only see the discontinuities.