Book description
Everyone talks about 'Middle England'. Sometimes they mean something
bad, like a lynch mob of Daily Mail readers, and sometimes they mean
something good, like a pint of ale in a sleepy Cotswold village in
summer twilight. But just where and what is Middle England? Stuart
Maconie didn't know either, so he packed his Thermos and sandwiches
and set off to find out...
Is Middle England about tradition and decency or closed minds and
bigotry? Is it maypoles and evensong, or flooded market towns and
binge drinkers in the park? And is Slough really as bad as Ricky
Gervais and John Betjeman make out? From Shakespeare to JK Rowling,
Vaughan Williams to Craig David, William Morris to B&Q, Stuart
Maconie leads the expedition, with plenty of stop-offs for tea and
scones, to discover the truth.
Stuart Maconie is familiar to millions as a TV and radio presenter.
He is the host of
Stuart Maconie's Critical List
on BBC Radio 2 and
Freak Zone
on Radio 6, and has written and presented dozens of other shows on BBC
Radio. He presents the
DVD Collection
on BBC Four and is a regular panellist on
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
on BBC2. As well as a popping up in Peter Kay's
Phoenix Nights
, he is a favourite on hit nostalgia TV such as the BBC's
I-the 1970s
. His other books include the acclaimed official biographies of both
Blur and James. He can name GQ Man of the Year and Sony Awards Radio
Broadcaster of the Year amongst his accolades.
