Book description
Abysmal weather, slag heaps, funny accents; the bleak uplands of a
landscape carved out of millstone grit; townscapes of abandoned mills
and shipyards; the detritus of an industrial revolution well past its
sell-by date. These, all too often, are the gloomy perceptions of 'the
north', the foundations for the belief that northerners spend their
lives battling hardship and misery, and that nothing beyond Watford is
worth a bag of chips.
With an insider's sensitivity and a journalist's enquiring mind,
northerner Martin Wainwright swiftly dispels these and other myths. He
reaches back through the historical record to uncover where - and how
- many of the old clichés arose, and goes on to paint a picture of
the north as it is today and has always been: a setting of wild
coastline, lakes, and green dales inhabited by indomitably inventive
northeners, proud of their past and forging a future of brilliant new enterprises.
Lavishly illustrated with over 100 stunning images from the
Guardian's archives, Wainwright's incisive and wittily
observant assessment of a region that is flourishing socially and
culturally leaves us in no doubt that true north is as vibrant and
exciting as it is beautiful.
Martin Wainwright is the Guardian's highly respected
Northern editor. He has written and edited over ten books, including
Wainwright: The Man who Loved the Lakes, A Lifetime of
Mountains, the Country Diaries of A. Harry Griffin and Morris
Minor, the Biography
