Three years before George Orwell made his expedition to the far and frozen North JB Priestley - who had grown up there after all - cast his net wider,writing a book subtitled "a Rambling but Truthful Account of What One Man Saw and Heard and Felt and Thought During a Journey Through England During the Autumn of the Year 1933." It was a huge and immediate success. A timeless classic,it is scathing about vested interests,intensely patriotic and politically progressive.
English Journey is warm,funny,tender. But tough. There is steel here too. J B Priestley's elegant and readable prose,written for a mass audience,is just as forensic a reading of a changing England and just as passionate a call to arms as anything in Orwell's bleak masterpiece. Moreover,it both captured and catalysed the public mood. But it's more than this. It's a love letter,albeit an exasperated one,to a country that he loves and yet finds unfathomable.
Stuart Maconie has often expressed the same passions and puzzlement. Now,ninety years on,he intends to take an English Journey of his own,with Priestley's thirties itinerary as guide. How does the country look now,as it reopens and re-emerges from this ice age of doubt and insecurity. Re-energised Hungry for change Or moribund,dazed and desperate for old certainties.
Revisiting English Journey,interrogating its insights and perspectives,walking in Priestley's footsteps and riding the roads and rails he did,Maconie's latest is popular,timely and entertaining,taking the form of a'sustained lovers quarrel with England',as did the original.
Publisher: HarperCollins PublishersISBN: 9780008498269Number of pages: 352Weight: 560 gDimensions: 240 x 159 x 34 mm
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Praise for Stuart Maconie:
'He'll be on the National Treasure list pretty soon.'- The Times
'A fine writer: sharp,funny,tender and thoughtful.'- The Spectator
Manchester Unspun: Andy Spinoza in conversation with Stuart Maconie
Manchester - DeansgateFriday 10th November 18:30
Deansgate welcomes Andy Spinoza,with Stuart Maconie,to celebrate the paperback release of Manchester Unspun.
ViewStuart Maconie
Stuart Maconie is a British journalist,author,DJ and television presenter,who has penned books on popular music,social history and British travel,as well as the acclaimed memoir Cider with Roadies. His latest book is The Nanny State Made Me.
Visit the Stuart Maconie author page
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