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Hope & Glory: The Days That Made Britain (2011)

by Stuart Maconie(Favorite Author)

3.91 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0091926483 (ISBN13: 9780091926489)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Ebury Press

review 1: I like that this book covered parts of modern British history that I didn't know so much about. But I didn't think it was all that well written. Many times Maconie mentioned a person or event but didn't elaborate, and I ended up Googling it. Maybe I'm just too used to Bill Bryson and his wonderful knack for going off at tangents all over the place, but it felt like that was lacking.That said it was an interesting read and, as I said, covered topics that were new to me, which was enough to keep me interested.
review 2: Liking Maconie on the radio, I thought I'd try some of his writing, and am pleased that I did.The conceit of the book is to take one day from every decade of the twentieth century -a day in which something important happened in Britain, e.g. th... moree death of Queen Victoria, the Battle of the Somme, and so on- and to give a kind of social history of Britain by following the ripples out from that day.The books is part travelogue, part wry social commentary - and in its humour and its concerns is very English, very northern English. For some, the Englishness will be off-putting; for others, it will be where the book's charm lies.I'm not sure that the book is terribly insightful, and some chapters are more informative than others (the first chapter stands out in this regard). On a stylistic point, sometimes the book lurches abruptly at changes of scene. Overall, it's like a toasted teacake - warm, crumbly, and embedded with sweet raisins. less

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