The country formerly known as Great Britain : writings, 1989-2000

by Ian Jack

Paper Book, 2011

Status

Available

Call number

941

Collection

Publication

London : Vintage, 2011.

Description

In this selection from over twenty years of reporting and writing, Ian Jack takes us to a place of which there are now only memories and ruins--the Great Britain that gave us the Industrial Revolution, a nation that led the world in feats of engineering, a Britain of empire, a place of vital cities, each with their own unique identity, and a country whose residual presence can still be found in the strangest corners of the world. These pieces set out to deal with contemporary Britain--national disasters, football matches, obesity, etc.--but are drawn back in time, vexed by the question of what came before. In "Women and Children First," watching the film Titanic leads to an investigation into the legend of Wallace Henry Hartley, the famous band leader of the doomed liner, and a journey into the Lancashire mill towns of the early twentieth century; "The 12:10 to Leeds," a magnificent report on the Hatfield rail crash, begins its hunt for clues in the eighteenth century in the search for those responsible. We travel further afield, finding vestiges of a vanished Britain in the Indian Subcontinent. Here we meet characters like the maverick English missionary, scientist and linguist William Carey, credited with importing India's first steam engine, or Mr. Goonawardene, a wise lunatic who spends his days at Colombo railway station--men whose stories are only possible because of the British empire. This wonderful collection brings together Ian Jack's most important and brilliant pieces. Full of the style, knowledge, and intimacy that make his work so special, they are the perfect introduction to the work of one of the country's finest writers, as well as the country that gave him his voice.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member hazelk
I bought this book because I like Ian Jack's journalism and the quality of his prose: I also thought his reflections on the various aspects of British life in the last one hundred years would be interesting. I wasn't disappointed, especially regarding small town life - the decimation of High
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Streets, of local cinemas etc. His delving into the engineering aspects of a railway disaster (Hatfield) like the maintenance or otherwise of the rails was even interesting to a non-techie like me. My main quibble is to do with the length of the essay on Kathleen Ferrier: so many of her letters printed that I wanted to shout 'enough already!'.
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Language

Physical description

xiii, 325 p.; 20 cm

ISBN

9780099532132

Barcode

91100000176858

DDC/MDS

941
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