Author:Dominic Sandbrook,Dominic Sandbrook
A 15-part BBC Radio 4 series exploring the origins of the Post Office, how it became a cherished national institution, and how it adapted to globalisation and commercialisation. It's called Royal Mail but it should be known as the People's Post. Launched in 1516 by Henry VIII, it was intended to support royal communications and bolster intelligence. It was only a rise in literacy, trade and interest that stimulated a demand for a public service, and it wasn t until the advent of the Penny Black in 1840 that it became affordable to the general public. Over the centuries, the Post Office has become a much-loved social institution, linking people together and extending their vision outward into the wider world. How the people made it their own is a fascinating story that has not been told.
The Jade Pyramid’s most ear-catching quality is its infectious playfulness. Day’s prose is wry and humorous
—— http://www.doctorwhoreviews.co.ukAn essential guide to the lives of the characters
—— Birmingham Evening MailA personal, often very funny, sometimes controversial view of the 60s by...an old beatnik who was there - from the teddy boys to the hippies to the punks
—— Guardian UnlimitedCloser to the work of someone like Malcolm Gladwell than to the... reminiscences of Brown's memoirs-writing contemporaries
—— WordA lovely kind of magic trick in book form
—— Boing BoingOne of the few books to get to grips with the social, cultural, political and religious forces which drove the trio... He has you smell the open sewers of Trench Town, and feel its deprivation... Joyfully literate and philosophically penetrating
—— MojoGrant has approached a well worn topic in a lively and different way... Ever alert to Jamaica's adage that "there is no such thing as facts, only versions," he gives space to the ambiguities surrounding the Wailers' story without forcing conclusions, which bestows a rich sense of the mix of truth and fiction constantly at play in Jamaica... The bigger picture is painted in rewardingly colourful, often revelatory detail
—— MetroThe myth-making that surrounds the memory of Bob Marley has largely obscured the contribution of his fellow Wailers, Neville "Bunny" Livingston (later Bunny Wailer) and Peter Tosh. I and I restores these two to their rightful position
—— New StatesmanGrant...is skilled at peeling away layers of history
—— ObserverThere are illuminating details and fresh revelations
—— IndependentThis intelligent study...offers something more than the usual story of rags-to-riches and ganja-fuelled Rasta-speak. This book is full of...insights and revelations
—— James Ferguson , Times Literary SupplementThe three pillars - Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer - occupy equal roles in this illuminating study from the cross-roads of music and society
—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent, Books of the YearUtterly riveting
—— Rob Fitzpatrick , Sunday TimesVivid biography...This brilliant book is not just about Jamaica, but also about ourselves, no longer the country of The King's Speech but a post-imperial nation, many of whose citizens have a buried history of slavery
—— Maggie Gee , GuardianMasterful biography...It is utterly riveting, taking in, as it does, true crime, West African folk magic and deeply corrupt politics
—— Rob Fitzpatrick , Sunday Times