The Country Formerly Known as Great Britain

Oct 7, 2024 12:20 AM

Author:Ian Jack

In this selection from over twenty years of reporting and writing, Ian Jack sets out to deal with contemporary Britain - from national disasters to football matches to obesity - but is always drawn back in time, vexed by the question of what came first.

In 'Women and Children First', watching the film Titanic leads into an investigation into the legend of Wallace Henry Hartley, the famous band leader of the doomed liner, while '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. Further afield, he finds vestiges of a vanished Britain in the Indian subcontinent, meeting characters like maverick English missionary and linguist William Carey, credited with importing India's first steam engine.

Full of the style, knowledge and intimacy that makes his work so special, this collection is the perfect introduction to the work of one of the country's finest writers.

Reviews

Jack's eye for precise detail, his curiosity and his luminous intelligence shine through every piece. His is a kind of writing we are lucky to still have around

—— Jackie Kay , Scotsman

Elegiac rather than nostalgic... At the heart of the book are three magnificent essays

—— The Economist

Superb

—— Alexander Chancellor , Spectator

Wonderful... Jack is a superb and diverse writer, with a mind and eyes and a nose for virtually everything... He's smart, proportionate, discerning and (rarest of rarities) decent. To me, this book is indispensable

—— Richard Ford , Guardian, Books of the Year

Ian Jack's superbly evocative essays are the ideal advertisement for the virtues of print journalism... superbly evocative

—— Rachel Cooke , The Observer

Ian Jack does for Great Britain what Arthur Miller did for the US and portrays a land through journalistic vignettes and essays

—— Emmanuelle Smith , Financial Times

One of our most prized journalists...we are lucky to have him. Where in many places else there is cant abounding, here is that rare thing, cant deficiency

—— Giles Foden , Guardian

For a perceptive perspective on the Britain that we're leaving ever further behind, Jack's journalism is hard to beat

—— David Robinson , Scotsman

An intriguing selection of the writing of Ian Jack...Jack masterfully reflects on the past while bringing modern life into sharp focus...despite taking an unflinching approach, his work is often humorous

—— Tom Hicks , Metro

This is a beady, sometimes moving book which proves that the finest journalism is worth paying for

—— Rachel Cooke , New Statesman, Books of 2009

Ian Jack's journeys in Britain and India are illuminating and memorable

—— Sean O'Brien , Times Literary Supplement

Nostalgia drives this collection of Jack's journalism... Jack's backward-looking stance works best when he is exposing the vandalism of the past

—— Guardian

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