About Britain (a updated journey of over 70 years)
About Britain is a book to take you beyond the capital, to explore Britain as a living country. In 1951, a series of guides celebrated the rural splendour of our island nature, and now historian Tim takes to the roads, to find what has changed. And has remained the same, in the 70 years since the guides were published.
Always follow the Countryside Code to keep all creatures safe. Keep dogs away from steep banks, mushrooms (and toxic plants/trees) and on leads near birds, barnyard friends and wild ponies.
At the coast, keep away from nesting birds and never walk on sand dunes. Learn how to keep dogs safe by the seaside (check beach bans before travel).
From Oban (in the Highlands) to Torquay (and taking in Welsh Caernarvon to Cambridge), he explores visible changes to our landscape, and subtle social and cultural shifts that lie beneath.
This is a warm timely meditation on our changing relationship with landscape, industry and transport.
As he looks out on apple orchards and vineyards, power stations and slate mines, and (in the modern age) vast greenhouses and fulfilment centres for shopping online, this is a stark contrast with the guidebooks of yesteryear. The book covers:
- West Country
- Wessex
- Home counties
- East Anglia
- Chilterns to Black Country
- South Wales and the Marches
- North Wales and the Marches
- East Midlands the Peak
- Lancashire and Yorkshire
- The Lakes to Tyneside
- Lowlands of Scotland
- Highlands and Islands of Scotland
Professor Tim Cole is Professor of Social History at Bristol University. He previously wrote a book on the Holocaust, which was commended by the jury of the Fraenkel Prize.
