SOURCE: “A Magic Kingdom,” in New Leader, Vol. 82, April 5, 1999, pp. 18–19.

In the following review, Foy asserts that the first one-tenth of Barnes's England, England is “[by far the most interesting” part of the book.]

In a world where grim Pilgrims, colonizing Zulu and marauding Teutonic Knights have at different times been hailed as historic heroes it is important to be reminded that such histories are always relative. In a world where Disney sanitizes New York's 42nd Street to make the area safe for screening faux-historical fables such as Mulan or Anastasia, it is vital to reassess why, and how, we craft the stories that tell us who we are.

Those are the tasks Julian Barnes sets himself in his new novel, [England, England,] and he attacks them with his usual grace and wit. The book is a three-part life of Martha Cochrane, a woman born at the...