Book learning #92 A history of modern Britain by Andrew Marr

I was in London during the summer, at a friend's house.
We had borrowed their home, some milk , towels and two Game of Thrones DVD box sets.
I simply couldn't thwaite the idea of borrowing a book from the shelf.

But during those few summer days in the capital, I did spend some time (on the loo, on the sofa) leafing through this account of British politics and society since 1945.

Manageable, readable and illuminating. A lengthy, but engrossing read. A good look at some of the hard times, false starts and failures of Britain's slow and so far, faltering decline.

Book Learning # 83 Chavs by Owen Jones

Data heavy yet thoroughly readable.
Challenged prejudices and assumptions.
Reinforced some misty, cloudy, put aside convictions.
Reminded me of some experiences I would much rather have forgotten.
Forced me to consider aspiration and that yes, it's really important.
Took me outside my comfort zone.
Even made me laugh a few times.

Book learning #76 How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.

Alright fellas. I know. Hold it.

Frau Random Doubt got this book for Christmas, after she had read it, it spent some time on the bedroom floor and before you know it, I'm reading it.

Excuses apart, this was a thought provoking, modern, intelligent and mostly witty (sometimes hilarious) account of feminism.

That's right. Feminism.

Like all big ideas/movements/struggles, feminism has it's differing perspectives and it's not my place to go into them here.

Moran puts the ideas into perspective and adds a sprinkle of light onto some dark areas.

Book Learning 49:Pies and Prejudice. In search of the North by Stuart Maconie

Pies and Prejudice. In search of the North by Stuart Maconie

I'm a professional Southerner.

I found this book lovely.

Lovely in that lovely, patronising way that Southerners have towards the North.
The sleeve makes a thing about Maconie becoming a National treasure, Its true, he's getting there. On the radio, the telly, in books, he's around a lot.

This book is a personal tour of the North, it's food, culture, sport and industry. It's also got a chunk of history and a bit of almost chip on shoulder northern working class stuff.

There were times in this book when I agreed with every word the man wrote, times when I laughed out loud and times when I reminisced fondly about family holidays to Yorkshire and Northumberland.

I almost got a bit bored at the end with the Brysonesque ramblings about Durham and Chester but I stuck it out.

Lovely, funny, insightful, a cracking read.

book Learning 39: The Progressive Patriot. A search for belonging by Billy Bragg.

The Progressive Patriot. A search for belonging by Billy Bragg.

Ever since I picked up the 12 inch single "Greetings to the new brunette" in January 1987 I have been wedded to Billy Bragg.
It's been a pretty good marriage, there have been times when all I needed was to listen to 'Worker's playtime' or 'Talking to the taxman about poetry' and all was well. I had Uncle Bill, those strange teenage years were bearable.

Then came 'Sexuality' and all that success.

Then came some truly lean years.

I kept the faith and I kept going to gigs, I just lived in a different place, a different time.
I think that at one gig Uncle Bill talked a lot about his wife and son and how hard it is to get a babysitter and I felt pretty much marginalised. Added to which I thought that the album he was promoting was crap. I have always loved his hostile attitude to nostalgia but dammit, if there's one man who can make me feel nostalgic for so many things it's Billy Bragg 1983-1988!

However, I saw him a couple of years ago in New York and loved every minute of it, my estranged Uncle Bill had come home. OK, he'd not really come home,it was more like he was attending a family function on good behaviour, but still, here he was, just as chatty as ever and playing all his old classics in a gorgeous venue.

So, I read his book.

In the midst of a self imposed enquiry about Englishness and what it means, a self imposed thought fest about returning to England, I picked up this book and began to read.

Bragg tackles a most complex issue, a complex issue for any nation, the idea of national identity and awareness.

Phew!

It's not all that intense, it flows in the way that an Uncle Billy mid gig chat flows, he fills it with family history (he is an incredible and quite fascinating geek) and a left centred view on English domestic history. He quotes heavyweights such as George Orwell and Sir Winston Churchill as well as lighter notes Sir John Major and Lord Tebbit. Billy takes you on a ride and it's a great conversation, I love the fact that he apologises several times for being a Londoner who now lives by the sea in devon!

All this made me realise that you could read a book a day on Englishness (Billy makes the distinction that this bok is about being English, not British) and still not get halfway close to an understanding. It also made me realise that whilst I don't rate much of Billy's recent musical output, he's not a half bad writer (always was a superb lyrical poet) and his books certainly hold the reader and keep the interest. yes, it's a geeky read full of semi obscure English history and the need for a formal, written constitution, but it's also dead entertaining.