Second City: Birmingham and the Forging of Modern Britain

In his book "Birmingham: A History of the Modern City," Richard Vinen explores the history of Birmingham, England, from its small village roots to its rise as a major industrial and cultural hub in the 20th century. The book delves into the experiences of individuals and communities affected by social change, such as the Welsh miners who came to work in the car factories in the 1930s and the young women who danced to reggae in the 1980s. Vinen argues that Birmingham has played a crucial role in British history and is essential to understanding modern Britain.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 592 pages
Publication date: 07 September 2023
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

A DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022




There is unlikely to be a more comprehensive or informative history of Birmingham than Vinen's Jonathan Coe, Financial Times. Vinen has written a history of Birmingham, but it is also a theory of Birmingham. And, perhaps, a theory of England. I buy it.




Daily Telegraph
For over a century, Birmingham has been the second-largest town in England. In his richly enjoyable new book, Richard Vinen captures the drama of a small village that grew to become the quintessential city of the twentieth century: a place of mass production and full employment that began in the 1930s but which came to a catastrophic halt in the 1980s. Birmingham has also been a magnet for migration, drawing people from Wales, Ireland, India, Pakistan, and the Caribbean. Indeed, much of British history can be explained, in large measure, with reference to Birmingham.


Vinen roots his sweeping story in the experience of individuals. This is a book about figures everyone has heard of, from J.R.R. Tolkien to Duran Duran, and also about those that everyone ought to have heard of. It captures the ways in which hundreds of thousands of people - from the Welsh miners who poured into the car factories in the 1930s to the young women who danced to reggae in the basement of Rebecca's nightclub in the 1980s - were caught up in the convulsions of social change.


Birmingham is not a pretty place, and its history does not always make for comfortable reading. But modern Britain does not make sense without it.

Weight: 406g
Dimension: 197 x 128 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780141993171