God Is an Englishman (The Swann Family Saga: Volume 1)

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Now I long for the church attendance, respect of the Bible, and gospel zeal of previous generations of my kinsmen according to the flesh. However, my forbearer’s apparent linking of “Englishness” and “Christianity” wasn’t just unbiblical but positively counter-biblical. Mr. Delderfield is English, talented, immensely industrious. No living novelist currently at work is so staunch and blithe a representative of an out moded style of writing fiction. A cheerful anachronism in the world of letters, Mr. Delder field writes with vigor, unceas ing narrative drive and a high degree of craftsmanship. At his best he may remind one of Troilope, at his worst of Hugh Walpole. Uneven, sometimes unconvincing, Mr. Delderfield is usually competent, usually entertaining and sometimes boring. He is a storyteller, which is no small thing to be. But he is not a novelist who can impose his vision of life upon his readers, who can cre ate characters so individual or so universal that they linger in the memory; whose own use of words and whose personality add an extra dimension to his work. William Blake penned the poem as a riff on an apocryphal story about adolescent Jesus visiting England’s shores and finding it to be heaven on earth. The hymn was written when religious fervor was rife in England; many believed God “favored” our land. Such words convey that nationality, not spirituality, is God’s highest priority. Moreover, they assume something about “the English” that requires God to be more for us than he is for others. Such sentiment, I fear, isn’t confined to the past or restricted to my nation.

Then there is the prose – its delicious precision, knowing understatement and witty asides. Above all, there is Hill's winning conviction that you cannot begin to appreciate Britain's island story or the passage of the "Cromwellian spirit" from the battle of Naseby to the Beveridge report without knowing "Old Nol" himself. In his generosity, wisdom and tangible feel for the significance of the 17th century, Christopher Hill stands as the finest of guides to the man of the times. The thread that binds the three elements into one is the national role of the Church of England, straddling religion, politics and society. So when Moreton recounts familiar episodes such as the Hillsborough disaster, various royal weddings and divorces, the miners' strike and the death of Princess Diana, he is mixing his own reactions, those of the established church, and a bigger picture of how each played in the public consciousness. In a sense you are an outsider, my dear chap,' he said, 'and that's the reason I grabbed you the moment you showed up. You're the bridge, don't you see? A passage over a generation gap, and it isn't the conventional generation gap we all have to cross if we know our business properly. Your gap, caused by the war, is semi permanent. It might take twenty years to close.' This is such an interesting read....a little predictable at times, but also surprising and interesting.A Horseman Riding By (published in the United States as two novels, Long Summer Day and Post of Honor) Filled with epic scenes and memorable characters God is an Englishman triumphs in its portrayal of human strength and weakness, and in its revelations of the power of love." In 2008, the University of Canberra announced the establishment of the Donald Horne Institute for Cultural Heritage. [5]

I feel like I'm always tempted to give R.F. Delderfield at least 4 stars because his stories are just so readable. After returning from the wars in the Crimea and India, Adam Swann decided to leave the army and started his own business - "Swann-on-Wheels". The company's name was suggested by Henrietta Rawlinson, daughter of a local mill owner, who will become his beloved wife. Cromwell, the East Anglian Puritan landowner who interrupted centuries of monarchical rule, stands both at the apex of British history and as the defining figure of the 17th century. So it was no surprise that the historian Christopher Hill (1912–2003) felt called to write an interpretation of a man who oversaw the English revolution – and about whom Hill was as conflicted as anybody else. He marries early on, and the story of his marriage is set alongside the story of his business. The marriage feels real with a full range of affection and distance, knowing and misunderstanding, trials, difficulties and surprises, and learning about the true nature of love. It manages to deal with these variations without growing cynical or using the struggles as an excuse to veer off into infidelity. Instead, they are opportunities for growth and increased understanding.

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National Living Treasures – Current List, Deceased, Formerly Listed, National Trust of Australia (NSW), 22 August 2014 it demanded imaginative investments, well-guarded channels of communication and above all, a trained work force that was aware, every hour of the day, on which side its bread was buttered” Horne, Donald (1992). "Interview with Robin Hughes". Australian Biography. Film Australia . Retrieved 20 February 2022.

A beloved novel by a beloved author, God Is an Englishman is a treasure both for Delderfield fans and the growing legion of fans of historical fiction. Curiously, Hill is more forgiving about Cromwell's conduct in Ireland. Of the 1649 bloodbaths in Drogheda and Wexford, from where Cromwell unleashed a murderous savagery out of revenge for the Irish rebellion of 1641 and to ensure there would be no Popish plots against the Commonwealth in England, Hill admits it "is not one of the pleasanter aspects of our hero's career" and he has no desire "to whitewash" his conduct. Nevertheless, "we must get the campaign and its aftermath into historical perspective, and try to see it through the eyes of Cromwell and his contemporaries". Cromwell's progression through Ireland is now widely regarded as an ugly display of bloodthirsty, even genocidal violence towards Irish Catholics. Blubb found out that one of his transports of weapons was being watched by some Irishmen in hopes of stealing them. Blubb sent for Adam and along with the two bothers who drove the freight, they fought and killed two of the men trying to steal the weapons belonging to the government. This brought the government's attention and led to more contracts with them. The thieves weren't heard from again.

Distinctions

While modernism has dominated 20th century fiction, story tellers held their own as well. Englishman R F Delderfield specialized in the story-telling novel. Out of print for many years, his God is An Englishman is available once again. It is the first of a trilogy of books about Adam Swann, a soldier turned businessman in Victorian Britain.