Offers a lively and accessible guide through past and present debates about the English curriculum which will appeal to students and practising teachers. '... [a] helpful and beautifully produced book' - IRichard Andrews, European Journal of Teacher Education'At the level of argument (as opposed to metaphor), the book strikes a pragmatic note. To those still hankering after an Arnoldian or Leavisian role as an English teacher, it offers this practical advice: "Given that English wants to be properly funded and valued, it is proving strategically necessary for English to be more modest and specific in the claims it makes for itself as a subject." The book in its forward-looking way makes much of that "strategically necessary" argument. The book is good then in providing detailed contexts for readers to reassess their own ideas about English and in raising crucial issues.' - Anthony Kearney, Use of English