Think of England as a comicly opinionated and affectionately satirical photo-essay about the identity of England. As Scotland and Wales consolidate their status as nations and Great Britain begins to unravel, this colour-saturated collection of images contributes to the debate about what it means to be English.

Quintessentially English himself, Martin Parr's great achievement as a photographer is his ability to transform the obvious into the surprising, reinventing clichés of Englishness as provocative revelations. His tour of obvious England takes in Ascot and the charity shop, seaside resorts,...