Product Description:

• In a series of intriguing routes through the English countryside, Professor robert Cooper notes those attractions that the casual tourist might unknowingly pass by, such as the house where Dickens wrote. A Tale of Two Cities, or the windswept quay where John Fowles s French Lieutenant s woman walked. Maps and information about restaurants and accommodations give the traveler the opportunity of having pints of half and half where Jane Austen dined or visiting the pub where Blake s scuffle led to his trial for treason. This newly revised and updated edition of Robert Cooper s acclaimed handbook combines the utility of current travel information with the appeal of literary history, biography, and anecdote in a leisurely and flavorful guide to the broad sweep of southern England outside of London. A rich and reliable guide to the landscape that fostered one of our most cherished cultures, The Literary Guide & Companion to Southern England is an indispensable resource for those who wish to experience literature firsthand.

Customer Ratings:

• The Perfect Companion for the Curious Traveler. The late Prof. Cooper was my kind of tourist set loose in a car in England.

  He avoids the M roads and the A roads with single digits. He gives clear directions. He has an eye for the peculiar, the unique, the unsettling. But most of all, he s an enthusiast. He s read the greats and an astonishing quantity of not so great.

  He knew his Dickens and Kipling, although I wish he was still alive so I could tip him to something he didn t know about Kipling s sojourn in Rottingdean, Sussex, and its tangible connexion to today: Kipling s familiarity with England s first family of traditional songs, the Copper family. An American who hears Kipling s poetry in the settings of Peter Bellamy will have good reason to reappraise Kipling.

  I m leaving for Kent this week. After reading Cooper, I ll only be bringing him and Ordinance maps along. I won t need anything else.

• The Literary Guide and Companion to Northern England
• Literary Guide Middle England