Collection: Saturday Specials

This sceptr'd isle

Next Friday is both St. George's Day and Shakespeare's birthday, which has set us thinking about this confounding country of ours. England has a distinct place as the seat of power in the United Kingdom and a history that, on the one hand, is defined by ambition, ingenuity and bravery, but, on the other hand, contains enough blood, treachery and greed to embarrass any number of Caesars. St George might be our patron saint, but he was a Roman soldier of Greek descent born in Turkey. Shakespeare, England's greatest poet, was a jobbing provincial actor who never spelled his own name the same way twice but held in his imagination the experiences of whole worlds. Things are rarely as simple as they seem - but then you look at the various English landscapes, and their beauty requires no explanation.

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