Poets have grappled with the vexed question of what constitutes Englishness since time immemorial, and the poetry of the past century has seen perhaps some of the biggest evolutions in national identity.

Contraflow takes a completely new approach to the subject of Englishness, and in this stimulating and entertaining anthology two poetic currents flow against each other, so that different decades merge, well-known stanzas brushing shoulders with more neglected verse.

What emerges is an extraordinary mosaic of poetic responses to English history, culture and landscape - satirical, visionary, lyrical, comic, political, meditative - yet one which offers a recognisable picture of a land both united and divided through a hundred years.

A Guardian and Sunday Times poetry book of the year