Northern Soul makes fascinating reading – tracing the development and explaining the appeal of the music with incredible in-depth input from a carefully chosen array of DJs, collectors and aficionados, all of whom were either there at the time or who were personally involved in making things happen, taking the scene forward to what it is today.

From the great unknowns, discovered and popularised by DJs such as Ian Levine in the early 1970s, to the insightful thoughts of today's movers and shakers. From the DJs, the record dealers and collectors, and those who are still out there each and every weekend, the ones who keep the Northern Soul torch burning so brightly today.

For myself, this book brings back so many memories of venues, events and characters I'd forgotten about. And I know this book will be well received as a true reflection of how it was back then by all those who experienced its formative years, and also by those who are fascinated by the scene and want to understand more about the music, the people, the venues and the associated way of life.

Most books about Northern Soul – of which there are groaning shelves worth – convey the scene's purism, obsessiveness and trainspotter-ish detail, but nothing of the passion this glorious sound evokes. This one does.

A gritty social history, a beautiful artefact; it’s a labour of love that reflects the music’s joy, significance and its cultural place, with the people who love it at its heart. You will not find here the usual canonical lists, the catalogue numbers or the minutiae of dates and labels, but you will get a real sweaty, pungent feel for the music's thrill and power, and how it has always sat within a historical and cultural context; music made by young, black, working-class Americans elevated to a near religion by young, white, working-class Northern kids who embraced the songs’ ecstasy, energy and despair as their own.

Great photography totally sets the scene.

A true icon of situation comedy and character comedy and there was nobody to my mind to touch him

[Ronnie Barker] had this extraordinary ability to make the nation laugh, probably more often than anyone else I know

In an industry full of so called script gurus and snake oil salesmen, at last there's a book about story that treats writers like grown ups. This isn't about providing us with an ABC of story or telling us how to write a script by numbers. It's an intelligent evaluation into the very nature of storytelling and is the best book on the subject I've read. Quite brilliant

Even for a convinced sceptic, John Yorke's book, with its massive field of reference from Aristotle to Glee, and from Shakespeare to Spooks, is a highly persuasive and hugely enjoyable read. It would be hard to beat for information and wisdom about how and why stories are told

This book is intelligent, well written, incisive and, most of all, exciting. It is the most important book about scriptwriting since William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade

Part 'How-to' manual, part 'why-to' celebration, Into The Woods is a wide-reaching and infectiously passionate exploration of storytelling in all its guises ... exciting and thought-provoking

Into The Woods is an amazing achievement. It has a real depth and understanding about story, a fantastically broad frame of reference and it's interesting and absorbing throughout. Full of incredibly useful insights, every TV writer should read the first chapter alone

Testing the adage that "in theory there's no difference between theory and practice but in practice there is", this is a love story to story -- erudite, witty and full of practical magic. It's by far the best book of its kind I've ever read. I struggle to think of the writer who wouldn't benefit from reading it -- even if they don't notice because they're too busy enjoying every page

Books on story structure are ten a penny but Mistah Yorke's is the real deal

All script-writers will want to read Into The Woods. All plots and archetypes BUSTED

Got to say Into The Woods by John Yorke is marvellous. The prospect of another screenwriting book made me yawn, but its terrific ... It's a great read, wise and cogent, and a must for all screenwriters

A mind-blower ... an incredibly dense but very readable tome about the art of storytelling ... Really worth a read

I don't always enjoy books on writing, but Into the Woods by John Yorke is brilliant on story structure.

This is a wildly seductive love letter to what Thomson concludes is a 'lost love' ... he rapturously recalls a lifetime's enchantment with the big screen

A startling analysis of what happens to us in the darkness as we dream with eyes open

There's one standout in this year's slew of film literature, The Big Screen written by David Thomson, a giant in the world of film criticism. His book is erudite but readable, delightfully tangential, and surprisingly polemical. He provides a fascinating ride through the past century of mostly American cinema and posits a theory that 'the shining light and the huddled masses' of yore will be replaced by digital anomie, as the big screen is replaced by YouTube on an iPhone

[The Big Screen] works both as an engaging primer on film history and as a map for more numinous shifts in the path of popular art ... Thomson offers a nuanced portrait ... the details of his narrative glimmer with offbeat insight