Hurst
9781911723974
£27.50 (hardback)
368 pages
50 b&w illus, 8 colour illus
Pre-order now UKPre-order now US
Forthcoming – June 2025 (UK), September 2025 (US)
Praise
“I can’t think of many writers today who make Christianity look like something worth getting involved with. Rowan Williams is one, Mark Vernon another. When I read them I feel excited by the possibility of a mind and soul transformed. This book, an exploration of the art and thought of perhaps the most exciting Christian of his time, William Blake, is full of light and challenge. I found it deeply fascinating and spiritually invigorating, and it left me unusually alert for the sound of angelic voices in the hum of the everyday.”
The Rev’d Richard Coles, author, broadcaster
“The best overall study of Blake I have encountered in a very long time. Rich and energetic, it brings together detailed readings of familiar (and not so familiar) poems with sharp contemporary application, and the deep insights of a therapist well-seasoned in finding a path through dreams. A joy to read, well worthy of its extraordinary hero.”
Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
“Vernon’s biography is a glorious read. It tackles the misunderstandings surrounding Blake’s life and presents a fascinating portrait of a deeply spiritual and politically radical man, who was one of the greatest visionaries of British history.”
Alice Loxton, historian, presenter and author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives
“Superb: a luminous book, wholly different from other accounts of Blake’s life. Vernon understands better than anyone else why Blake matters urgently for today. The result is prescient, prophetic, and compellingly readable.”
Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild, Exeter College Oxford
“At this moment, we need the voice of Blake–however strange and wild it often seems–more than ever. He is one of those untimely prophets who have the power to make us see reality anew in every epoch. Vernon is a particularly sensitive reader of the great man, one who knows how to communicate Blake’s vision with rare clarity.”
David Bentley Hart, philosopher, cultural commentator and author
“Vernon’s undefended perception and intelligence meet Blake’s, and re-enchanted wisdom issues forth on every page. I have rarely been so energised, goaded and inspired into wakefulness. This is a book that speaks to our age.”
Claire Gilbert, author of I, Julian
“Vernon brings Blake alive for our times, with an engaging guide to his life and work. In the face of pitiless politics, oppressive religion and soulless work, argues Vernon, Blake still points us to a way of innocence, joy and enhanced perception.”
Linda Woodhead, F. D. Maurice Professor in Moral and Social Theology, King’s College London
“Not only a brilliantly entertaining and illuminating book about Blake, but also an uplifting, original and inspiring work of philosophy.”
Tom Hodgkinson, editor of the Idler
“Mark Vernon writes of Blake that he “wanted to help his fellow man see more clearly”. The same could be said of Vernon himself, who has written a fascinating, thought-provoking and highly quotable testament to one of our greatest—and most prescient—prophets.”
Elizabeth Oldfield, host of The Sacred podcast and author of Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times
From the back cover
In the 200 years since his death, William Blake has become a household name. Many love the visionary artist, poet and writer. Yet many also struggle to comprehend his kaleidoscopic ideas; how they speak to human longings and the challenges of living in anxious times.
Mark Vernon provides a fresh route into Blake, one that takes him at his word. Bringing together Blake’s poetry, his arresting images and his passionate writings, alongside lively biographical sketches, Vernon shines a new light on this brilliant thinker’s vivid worldview.
Like us, Blake lived in a tumultuous era of warfare, discontent, rapid technological change, and a deepening estrangement of humanity from nature. He exposed the dark sides of political fervour and social moralising, while unashamedly celebrating love and liberty. But he also conversed with prophets and angels, and was powerfully, if unconventionally, religious. If we take this seriously—not easy, in secular times—then Blake can help us to unlock the transformative power of imagination, key to his importance in today’s world.
Written both for longstanding Blake-lovers and for those unfamiliar with his work, Awake! reveals Blake’s potential as an invigorating and hopeful guide for our modern age.
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