Customer Reviews

A Fox Under My Cloak (Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight Series)

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Few can claim to have read "A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight," a mighty, mighty work that Henry Williamson wrote during 1951-1969, comprising the following books: (1) The Dark Lantern (2) Donkey Boy (3) Young Philip Maddison (4) How Dear is Life (5) A Fox Under My Cloak (6) The Golden Virgin (7) Love and the Loveless (8) A Test to Destruction (9) The Innocent Moon (10) It Was the Nightingale (11) The Phoenix Generation (12) The Power of the Dead (13) A Solitary War (14) Lucifer Before Sunrise (15) The Gale of the World

The pivotal character in this work is Philip Maddison, the phases of whose life are portrayed from book 2 and thereafter, through his schooldays [no Evelyn Waugh, he], involvement in the war, love affairs and various attempts at farming in the Devon countryside. Williamson's style is akin to Thomas Hardy, especially in the lengthy nature descriptions throughout the work. At times, Williamson allows an almost obsessive [autobiographical??] bitterness to overwhelm the plot development in the second half of the work and overtake the portrayal of Philip Maddison. Still, the work has great merit and should be read as a whole, though it weighs in at 7,000-8,000 pages. Highly recommended

This series of books (15 in all that make up A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight) is a wonderful journey of discovery, history and vivid storytelling. Williamson's novel is brilliant. Each volume stands on its own, but is best read from the beginning to truly experience the cycle of Phillip Maddison's (and one's own in some way) life. Volume 15, The Gale of the World, makes one want to start again from the beginning. An epic tale. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!