England, This England: In the Steps of J.B. Priestley - Hardcover

Ours is a world of accelerating change, yet as a country, England remains deeply conservative at heart. We take advantage eagerly of the benefits of new technology while retaining a yearning for the atmosphere of the past. How can we reconcile this excitemnet for the new with our nostalgia? How has this affected our national identity? Inspired by J.B. Priestley's "English Journey" of the 1930s, J.G. Ramsay set out on his own journey to answer these and other questions, and to find out what really lies at the heart of modern England. The "symbolic snapshots" he records reveal a unique insight into the essence of Englishness. Whether witnessing joy-riders in Newcastle, or marvelling at the period antiquity of remote Suffolk villages, the author presents us with an England both alien and familiar. It is a country of manufacturing stasis; a PVC-coated culture; a society where mass unemployment has become the norm, and crime is simply another fact of life. This book looks at the economic factors that have shaped our country and argues for a return to commonsense values.