This work investigates how English writers between 1290 and 1340 conceptualized the idea of England as a distinct nation through their linguistic and literary output. Thorlac Turville-Petre, a scholar of medieval literature, examines the period immediately preceding the Hundred Years War to identify the emergence of national consciousness. By analyzing a diverse array of texts, he argues that the intersection of language, people, and geography provided the foundation for a burgeoning English identity during this era.

Scholars recognize this text as a foundational study for understanding the development of English national identity in the late Middle Ages. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the author's meticulous attention to primary source material from the pre-Chaucerian period.