‘These were the days that made us, and these are the day trips to find them. Should we do a flask? And are you sure you’ll be warm enough in that coat?’
In Hope and Glory Stuart Maconie goes in search of the places, people and events that have shaped modern Britain. Starting with the death of Queen Victoria, to the Battle of the Somme and the General Strike, and on to the docking of the Empire Windrush and Bobby Moore raising the Jules Rimet trophy, he chooses a defining moment in our nation’s story from each decade of the last century and explores its legacy today.
Some were glorious days, some were tragic, or even shameful, but each has played its part in making us who we are as a nation. From pop stars to politicians, Suffragettes to punks, this is a journey around Britain in search of who we are.
I have known and travelled this country of ours for nigh on 76 years and may I say how much I am enjoying Aventure on the High Teas. It is occasionally irreverent but mostly warmly sympathetic and I am relieved to know that despite an age difference, we are much in tune in convictions and emotions – don’t know much about your music though. I look forward to reading my next Maconie opus.
I also listened to the audiobook version and thoroughly enjoyed it. Laughed and cried in parts and would recommend the book to anyone.
Looking forward to reading your new book after thoroughly enjoying pies and prejudice and even laughing out aloud on many occasions,only one gripe is that you gave Charlie Williams birthplace as Bradford and as a proud South Yorkshireman must point out he was born near Barnsley an easy oversight to make as a woollyback.
I am listening to this book on audiobook and really enjoying it. The chapters regarding the Accrington Pals and the Thankful villages along with the miners strikes snd the Battle of Orgreave were narrated with such feeling and sensitivity it was very moving.
Sir, your Russian-speaking fans are looking forward to the new book.Besides,we hope that transliteration of musial names/titles in the book will be done more properly.Unfortunately,some of my friends gave up reading your books in Russian because it was so boring to try to reconstruct the original and very well-known musical names out of badly transliterated heaps of Russian letters.I suggest that either such names should be printed in English even in Russian copies or you should hire a better translator).
I moved to Australia 4 months ago and can’t find a copy of Hope & Glory in any of the bookshops here. Please send me a copy as I love your previous work! Also missing Stuart and Mark banging on about everything and nothing on the radio. Worst book review ever?
[...] book is Stuart Maconie’s (@stuartmaconie) Hope and Glory which I’m very much enjoying. I very much like listening to him and Mark Radcliffe on BBC [...]
I picked up a copy of Pies and Prejudice at the airport a couble of years ago but have jut got around to reading it. As a Brit living in the states but who grew up in Wallasey your chapters on Cheshire and Liverpool were particularly emotive. Even my thoroughly americanized, now adult children have fond memories of being allowed to go to Liscard on their own, playing footie in the road, and going to the paper shop where Auntie Yvonne would give them free sweets. Your book made me both laugh and cry. Even though I go back to Wallasey every year I emmediatly wanted go online and book a ticket to Manchester – that how homesick I felt.
I am not usually moved to do such a thing as post my thoughts about a book I have just read, but I feel I must say thank you, Stuart, for providing me with a week of pure delight, as I have just (2 minutes ago!) finished reading “Hope and Glory”. Rarely have I enjoyed a book more. It is both extremely well written, very funny and highly moving, aswell as being informative. Thank you! Your views on what makes the UK tick are mine entirely.
Thank you Mr Maconie, for yet another brilliant, thought provoking and truely fantastic book! Giggles not a plenty during the first couple of chapters (for obvious reasons)…but you got us back on track for Sectioning, whilst reading on public transport, with poor Trevor at Port Sunlight! Best wishes Fiona
Enjoyed the book but as a ‘Jarra Lad’ myself I noted a couple of inaccuracies:
1. Jarrow was a Co. Durham town until it was absorbed into Tyne & Wear so the marchers of 1936 did not walk through any Northumbrian towns/villages.
2. Jarrow is south of the river and therefore south of Newcastle.
3. The metro runs over the Queen Elizabeth 2nd Bridge and not the High Level Bridge.
Are there similar inaccuracies in the geography and facts regarding other parts of the country visited in the book?
I am enjoying the book greatly, but it seems to have more than its share of mistakes; as well as relocating Jarrow to the north of Newcastle, Stuart also has waves from the North Sea splashing his minicab in Blackpool (must have been pretty big waves to reach that far), and he refers to Portugal as being a dictatorship in 1977, when in fact it became a democracy in 1974, as any fule kno…
Just finished your book. Slightly spooky to find someone who has travelled to the same places and had such similiar trains of thought to myself. Loved it.
Looking forward to reading the book. Will there be an audiobook?
Stuart’s paeon to Newcastle in Pies and Prejudice was delightful, so when I saw he had travelled up here again for Hope & Glory, I couldn’t wait to se what he had to say. How disappointing that the account contained two terrible inaccuracies – you would not cross the Tyne on the metro over the high level bridge, and Jarrow is south of Newcastle, not north! Poor editing Stuart, and it makes me wonder how true the anecdotes about places I am not familiar with might be.
Loving the book so far but struggling just now with my mental map of Tyneside….maybe another pint of Bumbo will clarify matters…
Haven’t read entire book yet but looking forward to doing so. Enjoyed talk at Liverpool especially
reference to Handsworth where we’d spent the afternoon the day before. We go there from time to time and as with Lumb Lane in Bradford we are sometimes the only “white” people around but nevertheless feel totally safe and made very welcome in the cafes and bars. Multi-culturalism working !