An intellectual who did not like intellectuals, a socialist who did not trust the state, a writer of the left who found it easier to forgive writers of the right, a liberal who was against free markets, a Protestant who believed in religion but not in God, a fierce opponent of nationalism who defined Englishness for a generation. Aside from being one of the greatest political essayists in the English language and author of two of the most famous books in twentieth century literature, Georg...

The North East is probably England's most distinctive region. A place of strong character with a very special sense of its past, it is, as William Hutchinson remarked in 1778, 'truly historical ground'.This is a book about both the ancient Anglian kingdom of Northumbrian, which stretched from the Humber to the Scottish border, and the ways in which the idea of being a Northumbrian, or a northerner, or someone from the 'North East', persisted in the area long after ...

Why did killing a fox mean liberty? What did parish revels have to do with the Peterloo Massacre? What did animal cruelty have to do with the English constitution? What did the Factory Acts mean for modern football? In This Sporting Life, Robert Colls explains sport as one of England's great civil cultures. The lived experiences of people from all walks of life are reclaimed to tell England's history through its great sporting cultures, from the horseback pursuits of the wealthy a...

George Orwell has never been more quoted and misquoted. Can he be rescued from the soundbites? George Orwell remains a work in progress. He is, or has become, a meme, a global writer, a national treasure, a London statue, a scholarly society, a Prize and a Journal, a trope and a show, various movies and murals, too many misquotations, two adjectives, at least half a dozen fictions, and most recently a dead metaphor with plenty more accolades to come. George Orwell: Lif...

Cities of Ideas: Civil Society and Urban Governance in Britain 1800-2000 addresses the changing nature of individualism and public service in the 19th and 20th centuries, and consists of a collection of essays authored by senior figures in economic, social, cultural and educational history. The question of the balance between the life of the private citizen and the need to play an active role in the wider community, is one that recurs throughout history. In this book the shifting nature of...

'Englishness' is by no means the unchanging quality of those living in the territory that has come to be England, but a concept that has been made and remade throughout history, expressing itself through existing symbols and ideas.Since its first publication in 1987 this collection has been regarded as a major work on English national identity as it evolved during the period 1880-1920 and has had a significant impact on writing and research. It is a classic text for students of mod...

George Orwell has never been more quoted and misquoted. Can he be rescued from the soundbites?George Orwell remains a work in progress. He is, or has become, a meme, a global writer, a national treasure, a London statue, a scholarly society, a Prize and a Journal, a trope and a show, various movies and murals, too many misquotations, two adjectives, at least half a dozen fictions, and most recently "a dead metaphor" with plenty more accolades to come.Ge...

'Adds enormously to our understanding of the man' Evening StandardGeorge Orwell was one of the greatest writers England produced in the last century. He left an enduring mark on our language and culture, with concepts such as 'Big Brother' and 'Room 101.' His reputation rests not only on his political shrewdness and his sharp satires (Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four) but also on his marvellously clear style and superb essays...

Embark on a delightful journey through the eccentric and humorous world of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. This quintessentially British novel introduces the affable and inquisitive Samuel Pickwick and his eclectic band of companions as they set out on a series of misadventures across the English countryside. From legal entanglements to romantic escapades, Dickens weaves a tapestry of wit and charm, offering a satirical commentary on society’s quirks and foibles.The...

A VILLAGE AND ITS PEOPLE THROUGH THE WHOLE OF ENGLISH HISTORYThe village of Kibworth in Leicestershire lies at the very centre of England. It has a church, some pubs, the Grand Union Canal, a First World War Memorial - and many centuries of recorded history. Bought in the thirteenth century by William de Merton, who founded Merton College, Oxford, it also lodges 750 years of village history.Michael Wood tells the extraordinary story of one English community...

"Emma Griffin gives a new and powerful voice to the men and women whose blood and sweat greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution" (Tim Hitchcock, author of Down and Out in Eighteenth-Century London).This "provocative study" looks at hundreds of autobiographies penned between 1760 and 1900 to offer an intimate firsthand account of how the Industrial Revolution was experienced by the working class ( The New Yorker). The era didn't just bring ...

SPECTATOR, NEW STATESMAN, SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY and THE HERALD BOOKS OF THE YEARThe Scots are one of the world's greatest nations of emigrants. For centuries, untold numbers of men, women and children have sought their fortunes in every conceivable walk of life and in every imaginable climate across the British Empire, the United States and elsewhere, from finance to industry, philosophy to politics.To the Ends of the Earth puts this extraordinary epi...