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A review by wunkymatts
Long Road from Jarrow: A journey through Britain then and now by Stuart Maconie
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.