Girouard set out to trace the resurgence of chivalry in England. The book starts out well, with a description of the most popular play of 1912, "Where the Rainbow Ends." In it, a collection of school children battle the Dragon King and their aunt and uncle, who are cruel and unpatriotic. With the help of St.George and a pet lion, they defeat the villains, and "audience and cast sing the National Anthem together." Girouard points out the chivalrous origin of various other ludicrous events of the time (Titanic, the Eglinton Tournament, etc). After Elizabeth I, chivalry fell out of favor, and only revived in the early nineteenth century. A national obsession with the (very idealized) medieval era began. Chivalry led to the formation of the Boy Scouts, sports as a school activity, trade as ungentlemanly, colonial rule, and especially the crazed way Great Britain entered WWI.

The thesis is interesting and the period a favorite of mine, but I had a hard time getting through this book. One problem was that Giouard flits about in time a great deal; tracing the development of knightly metaphors is made far more difficult when the writer suddenly jumps 50 years. The other problem I had was that at least half the chapters were almost catalogs of poets and pieces of art--very little analysis, but long lists of names. ( )

Growing up in Western Canada I few reminders of the past in any form. The small number of sham castles, or at least partially crenellated buildings were vital to my mental health. Marc Girouard has evoked that particular facet of the Victorian age pretty well in this well illustrated book. More colour plates would have improved it. ( )