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A Northern Wind

Britain 1962-65

David Kynaston

$29.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English
Bloomsbury
01 November 2024
The early sixties in Britain told as only David Kynaston ('the most entertaining historian alive' Spectator) can. Running from 1962 to 1965, A Northern Wind is the anticipated new volume in the landmark ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’ series.

'From Daleks and dingy tower blocks to nuclear threats, this addictively readable book charts dizzying change . . . Sometimes moving, often comic, always fascinating' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES

How much can change in two and a half years? In the case of Britain in the Sixties, the answer is: almost everything. From the seismic coming of Liverpool's the Beatles to a sex scandal that rocked the Tory government to the arrival at No 10 of Harold Wilson, a Yorkshireman utterly different from his Old Etonian predecessors.

A Northern Wind, the keenly anticipated next instalment of David Kynaston’s acclaimed Tales of a New Jerusalem series, brings to vivid life the period between October 1962 and February 1965. Drawing upon an unparalleled array of diaries, newspapers and first-hand recollections, Kynaston’s masterful storytelling refreshes familiar events – the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Big Freeze, the assassination of JFK, the funeral of Winston Churchill – while revealing in all their variety the experiences of the people living through this history.

Major themes complement the compelling narrative: an anti-Establishment mood epitomised by the BBC’s controversial That Was The Week That Was; a welfare state only slowly becoming more responsive to the individual needs of its users; and the rise of consumer culture, as Habitat arrived and shopping centres like Birmingham’s Bull Ring proliferated. Multi-voiced, multi-dimensional and immersive, Tales of a New Jerusalem has transformed how we see and understand post-war Britain. A Northern Wind continues the journey.

A WATERSTONES, TIMES, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Magnificent . . . The early Sixties have never been recounted so well'

THE TIMES, BOOKS OF THE YEAR

'A breathtaking array of treasures . . . A book to savour'

TLS

'Extraordinarily atmospheric, capturing more than anything a sense of what this moment might have felt like to live through'

FINANCIAL TIMES

'Kynaston is the most humane and even-handed chronicler of our time, and the one best-qualified to carry this mightily compelling national story onwards'

OBSERVER
By:  
Imprint:   Bloomsbury
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm, 
ISBN:   9781526657565
ISBN 10:   1526657562
Pages:   704
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

David Kynaston is a professional historian and author. He has written a four-volume history of the City of London as well as a history of the Bank of England. His continuing history of post-war Britain, 'Tales of a New Jerusalem', has so far comprised Austerity Britain, Family Britain, Modernity Britain and On the Cusp. His most recent three books have been Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket (with Stephen Fay); Engines of Privilege: Britain’s Private School Problem (with Francis Green); and Shots in the Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and Strange Times.

Reviews for A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65

As in the earlier volumes of this vivid history of postwar Britain, Kynaston’s primary aim is to document “a ceaseless pageant as, in all its daily variousness, it moves through time”. This he achieves with a breathtaking array of treasures: diaries, provincial newspapers, political speeches, films and novels are woven together to provide a kaleidoscope of contrasting perspectives, defying any attempt to create a neat story of progress or nationhood . . . This is a richly evocative, thought-provoking and, above all, compassionate study of those who lived through the much-mythologised 1960s. We can only hope that when historians write about our own times, they will extend the same generosity of spirit -- Selina Todd * TLS * Here is an intricate tapestry that conveys the essence of the time . . . A Northern Wind is not a superficial exercise in heritage history, an attempt to dress up the past . . . It analyses complexities, teases out nuances and gauges the currents of continuity and change, many of which still flow today -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review * PRAISE FOR 'Tales of a New Jerusalem' : Volumes full of treasure, serious history with a human face -- Hilary Mantel No other writer evokes Britain's past so well * New Statesman * Kynaston has created a living, breathing, talking, singing, dancing, grumbling and complaining portrait of the British . . . Groundbreaking * Literary Review * Few historians have the power to make you feel you actually inhabit the times they are writing about. Kynaston does -- Book of the Decade * Sunday Times * One of the most remarkable literary projects of this century -- Nick Hornby A living, breathing, talking, singing, dancing, grumbling and complaining portrait of the British . . . Groundbreaking * Literary Review *


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