England, England cover art

England, England

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

England, England

By: Julian Barnes
Narrated by: Julian Wadham
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £11.20

Buy Now for £11.20

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction

As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of Wight. Grotesque, visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman takes the saying literally and does exactly that. He constructs on the island 'The Project', a vast heritage centre containing everything 'English', from Big Ben to Stonehenge, from Manchester United to the white cliffs of Dover. The project is monstrous, risky, and vastly successful. In fact, it gradually begins to rival 'Old' England and even threatens to supersede it...

One of Barnes's finest and funniest novels, England, England calls into question the idea of replicas, truth vs fiction, reality vs art, nationhood, myth-making, and self-exploration.

'A brilliant, Swiftian fantasy' The Economist

© Julian Barnes 1996 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire England Comedy
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

The sharpest-tasting novel about the modern littleness of England. (John Sutherland)
Runs at glorious full tilt...delightful stuff
A brilliant, Swiftian fantasy
There is no more intelligent writer on the literary scene. In this novel, he is also moving. He has written nothing more poignant and enticing (John Carey)
Not only a very funny satire about England and the world... He has also skilfully dissected the discomforting ways in which we have all grown to accept, and even depend on, illusion
Few writers think and talk so beguiling (Zoë Heller)
All stars
Most relevant
Everything I expect from Barnes. Witty, thought provoking, inventive, and exquisitely written. Brilliantly performed by the narrator.

Quintessential Barnes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.