A contemporaneous reviewer called James Fenimore Cooper’s England “unquestionably the most searching and thoughtful, not TO say philosophical of any” of the books “published by an American on England.” Another cited with approval the “potent causticity” with which a fellow reviewer “develope[d] the gangrene of the author’s mind in its most foul and diseased state.” Such were the extremes of response elicited by publication in 1837 of the fourth and most controversial book in Cooper’s travel series, Gleanings in Europe. Partly because of his ambivalence for most things British, England is perhaps the most fascinating of the travel volumes to the modern reader. Probably no American of his time was received more hospitably by the British upper classes, nor did any reciprocate with shrewder or more scalding criticism. Cooper himself thought well of his book, taking some delight in the stir it made in London and expecting it to do much good at home. The modern reader will be delighted by his novelist’s eye for the revealing scene or detail and by the multidimensional perspective he provides on British-American cultural conflicts of the 1820s and 1830s.

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In this travelogue, Cooper shares his experiences and reflections on England as he travels through the country. The book offers a unique perspective on England's culture, history, and society during the early 19th century. Cooper's writing is both informative and entertaining, making this book a great choice for anyone interested in travel writing or England's history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Excerpt from Gleanings in Europe, Vol. 2 of 2: England It strikes me the English are drilled into a formality that throws a cloud over their social inter course. As a people they are not fluent, and the itching desire to catch the tone of the highest class has probably a bad effect for a man may be a peer, or a great commoner, without being much gifted with intellect. It is true, that Englishmen of this class are generally respectable, but mere respectability of mind will not sumec for great models, and when a body of merely respectable men impart a tone to others, which originates in their own incapacity, it has the effect to restrain talents. Individuals like Sir James Macintpsh and Mr. Coleridge overcome this by the force of their impulses, and the consciousness of power, but thousands of men, highly, though less gifted than they, are curbed by the established forms. This is but speculation, after all, and quite likely it is value less. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.