Perfidious Albion The Story of Stendhal and British Culture [Hardcover]

What to make of the British? is a question that puzzled Stendhal throughout his whole life. In this new work, which is both a biography and an exercise in cultural history, David Ellis brings to bear on the issues it raises much new and unfamiliar information. What to make of the British? is a question that puzzled Stendhal throughout his whole life. In this new work, which is both a biography and an exercise in cultural history, David Ellis brings to bear on the issues it raises much new and unfamiliar information.Italy is the foreign country with which Stendhal is most commonly associated. The multiplicity of his Italian connections makes it less surprising that so much has been written about them, and so comparatively little about his consuming interest in British culture. Yet this book makes a strong case for believing that Britain mattered just as much to him, if not often more, than Italy, especially as far as his interest in literature and politics is concerned. In these days when Anglo-French relations are about to enter a new phase, much of what is discussed here remains surprisingly relevant.After the fall of Napoleon, and the restoration of British links with the European continent, Stendhal was by no means the only French writer who was anxious to know more about this comparatively small island which had emerged victorious from more than twenty years of warfare. How had the wealth that had financed so many alliances against the French Empire been generated and what were the consequences of rapid industrialisation on the countrys social fabric? More importantly, how had it managed to be so effective and influential when power was not in the hands of a single authority but divided between a king and two houses of parliament? These were questions which Stendhal felt were highly relevant, not only to the political future of his own country but also to Europe in general.As a writer, he was however also fascinated by Britains literature, both of the past al!