England on Fire

This is a book about English art like no other.Forget the tired rogues’ gallery of lords and ladies, forget the tall ships and haywains. These images cut to the heart of England’s psychic landscapes to portray an Albion unhinged, where magic and rebellion and destruction are the horses to which the country is hitched. On these fabled shores we are all castaways, whether our family has lived here for four thousand years or for four. Here you will find depictions of ancient trackways, chalk carvings and standing stones, of animal-masked community rituals, of streets set ablaze in protest, of occult dreams and psychedelic prophecies. There are over 200 images by artists ranging from William Blake, J.M.W. Turner and Samuel Palmer to Paul Nash, Louis Wain, Bill Brandt, Derek Jarman and Ithell Colquhoun to present-day visionaries such as Paula Rego, Cathy de Monchaux, George Shaw, Jamie Reid, Matt Collishaw,Tacita Dean, Lina Iris Viktor, Yinka Shonibare, Nick Waplington, Dan Hillier, Nicola Tyson, Sutapa Biswas and Chila Kumari Burman.The mind-blowing selection of images is accompanied by short texts by Mat Osman, exploring magic and mazes, ghosts and gardens, shipwrecks and cities. These poetic renderings of a spectral isle, together with Stephen Ellcock’s hallucinatory visual journey, reclaim Albion as an eternally inspiring and anarchic domain – an England on fire.

"Fascinating, vibrant, and overwhelmingly powerful, this is a unique look at England in its magical and rebellious glory ... A LoveReading Star book, England on Fire is truly beautiful, it’s astute, inclusive, and absolutely magical." - Liz Robinson, LoveReading.co.uk  "Ellcock resurfaces the work of a wide range of artists, from overlooked 19th century printmakers to female surrealists. In the place of sedentary lords and ladies, he offers saturnalia. In the place of haywains; standing stones, the Cottingley fairies and scenes from anti-fascist marches." - India Bourke, New Statesman"England On Fire will change the way you see England, not for showing anything new, but for showing you what has been there all along." - Thomas Overlook, Exquisite Terror"not just mind blowing, but mind defining – approaching the heights of epiphanic beauty ... This deep, wild England also contains the euphoria of possibility – therein lies the importance and joy of this book, the pages of which mingle with our dreams." - Richard Cabut, International Times"England on Fire is definitely thought-provoking. As you flick through the pages, you really do get a sense of the subconscious and often poignant undercurrent of England's 'jousting and days out' heritage." - Love British History"A fantastical wander through English art, customs and rituals [...] an insightful visual map of a strange and fascinating world." – Sinéad Gleeson

Stephen Ellcock is a London-based online collector and curator of images, writer, researcher and former musician and bookseller who spends most of his time nowadays creating an ever-expanding, virtual museum on Facebook and Instagram.His ongoing attempt at creating the ultimate social media ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ has so far attracted more than 350,000 followers and increasing media attention, not all of which is unwelcome.