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Robert W. Barrett, Against All England: Regional Identity and Cheshire Writing, 1195–1656

Medieval Cheshire is enjoying a scholarly moment. Two decades after Michael Bennett’s groundbreaking work on middling class aspiration, critical work both in print and on the web is flourishing. Such projects as John Bowers’s book on the Pearl poet and Richard II’s Cheshire connections, Jane Laughton’s history of medieval Chester, and the web project headed by Catherine Clarke have all done much to enhance our appreciation and understanding of the rich sociocultural history of the region. Robert Barrett’s book is a significant and welcome contribution to that burgeoning work. With its longue durée approach, lucid prose, clarity of argument, and telling readings of texts from a variety of genres, Barrett’s book appeals to anyone interested not only in Cheshire but also broader topics including urban studies, regionalism, drama, periodization, and nationhood. In his introduction, Barrett lays out his stakes, stressing how the long historical purview of his analysis problematizes the idea of a sharp break between the Middle Ages and early modernity. Barrett claims that by focusing on a region we find instances of regional exceptionalism, nationalism, and internationalism emerging throughout the period of over 450 years that he covers. Barrett emphasizes the geographic (i.e., Cheshire’s border location) and administrative (i.e., Cheshire’s palatinate status) qualities that informed the regional affiliations that emerge in Cheshire cultural produc-