Long Road from Jarrow: A journey through Britain then and now

Stuart Maconie walks from north to south retracing the route of the Jarrow Crusade, 200 men from Tyneside marched 300 miles to London in 1936 in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. He explores the political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks, and football mania of Britain in the 30s and the 80 years since.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 19 April 2018
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

The Sunday Times Bestseller, A tribute and a rallying call - Guardian

Three and a half weeks. Three hundred miles. I saw roaring arterial highways and silent lanes, candlelit cathedrals and angry men in bad pubs. The Britain of 1936 was a land of beef paste sandwiches and drill halls. Now we are a nation of vaping and nail salons, pulled pork and salted caramel.

In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie, walks from north to south retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade.

Travelling down the country's spine, Maconie moves through a land that is, in some ways, very much the same as the England of the 30s with its political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks, and, of course, football mania. Yet, in other ways, it is completely unrecognisable.

Maconie visits the great cities as well as the sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes, and roaring motorways. He meets those with stories to tell and whose voices build a funny, complex, and entertaining tale of Britain, then and now.

Weight: 262g
Dimension: 197 x 132 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781785030543