The Matter of Britain

Morton seems to have been in good health in his sixties (e.g., he continued to play tennis) but numerous influential figures from Morton’s generation were dying, from Bronwen JonesJones, Bronwen to T. S. EliotEliot, T.S.. His essays from 1966, The Matter of Britain, can be seen as something of a sentimental collection, featuring uncharacteristically nostalgic language and essays on childhood favourites (e.g., RuskinRuskin, John, ShakespeareShakespeare, William) while concluding with a personal reflection on EliotEliot, T.S.. However, these essays can also be read as a cultural equivalent of A People’s History of EnglandMorton, Arthur LeslieBooks and pamphlets: (1938) as they are lined up in historical materialist order and explain the role of culture in the transformations to feudalismFeudalism and capitalismCapitalism and the beginning of the transformation to socialism. Moreover, the essays also pointed towards the future of Morton’s work in that ShakespeareShakespeare, William would be a topic to which he would return in the 1970s.