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wunkymatts's review against another edition
4.0
This is an absolutely gorgeous book. I want to say I would recommend it to anyone, but Maconie is not shy about expressing his opinions. He does this with a dazzling self awareness and nuance, as well as often providing solid explanations for his conclusions (and owning it when he doesn't have any) but I also agree with a lot of his opinions so maybe someone who doesn't would have a harder time with this book.
Maconie's writing is warm and readable. He has a gift for description and is constantly aware of his own penchant for nostalgia and guards against it. See the above mentioned dazzling self awareness. The idea and structure also work well. His discussions of the original march and the comparison with today in a wonderfully clear eyed way.
If you know nothing about the Jarrow Crusade or want to know more this book is a fantastic, accessible place to start.
My only complaints are a couple of obvious mistakes that irk me on a personal level. Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford are the cities of West Yorkshire, not South. And Jo Cox wasn't shot outside her constituency office, she was shot outside a library elsewhere in her constituency. I did feel quite let down by these oversights, and it made me wonder a bit about the other pieces of delightful knowledge in the book.
Maconie's writing is warm and readable. He has a gift for description and is constantly aware of his own penchant for nostalgia and guards against it. See the above mentioned dazzling self awareness. The idea and structure also work well. His discussions of the original march and the comparison with today in a wonderfully clear eyed way.
If you know nothing about the Jarrow Crusade or want to know more this book is a fantastic, accessible place to start.
My only complaints are a couple of obvious mistakes that irk me on a personal level. Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford are the cities of West Yorkshire, not South. And Jo Cox wasn't shot outside her constituency office, she was shot outside a library elsewhere in her constituency. I did feel quite let down by these oversights, and it made me wonder a bit about the other pieces of delightful knowledge in the book.
kingarooski's review
4.0
Was 2016 like 1936?...I saw and heard chilling echoes, not from the Jarrow march route but not too far away, that made me think. Domineering men telling lies, big lies, and snarling at the judges and journalists who try to hold them to account. Contempt for women. Contempt for decency. Banter instead of wit. Cruelty in place of compassion. The age of the troll and the snowflake, people reduced to stereotypes, and the newspapers once again denouncing 'enemies of the people' and printing their names and pictures. In 2016, for the first time for me, it was not glib chatter or student drivel to think that something very like fascism was arising again out of the depths of history, a rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem to be born.
Any book which quotes my favourite poem in its closing lines is a good book by my standards. This was an interesting and enjoyable book, but I was hoping for more Jarrow and less Brexit. I can see why Stuart Maconie needed to talk about Brexit because when he marched, this was all the nation talked about. It is easy to draw the parallels between the 30s and our current times, but I would have loved more about the Jarrow march. The book does give an accurate picture of Britain at the time when Stuart Maconie marched from Jarrow to London and I enjoyed his descriptions of each of the towns and cities where he stayed.
Any book which quotes my favourite poem in its closing lines is a good book by my standards. This was an interesting and enjoyable book, but I was hoping for more Jarrow and less Brexit. I can see why Stuart Maconie needed to talk about Brexit because when he marched, this was all the nation talked about. It is easy to draw the parallels between the 30s and our current times, but I would have loved more about the Jarrow march. The book does give an accurate picture of Britain at the time when Stuart Maconie marched from Jarrow to London and I enjoyed his descriptions of each of the towns and cities where he stayed.
jennmrowlands's review
5.0
Another great read from Stuart Maconie. His style mixes personal anecdotes with an interesting history. Thoroughly recommended!