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Let The People Sing
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
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About the author
J.B. Priestley
469 books293 followersJohn Boynton Priestley was an English writer. He was the son of a schoolmaster, and after schooling he worked for a time in the local wool trade. Following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Priestley joined the British Army, and was sent to France - in 1915 taking part in the Battle of Loos. After being wounded in 1917 Priestley returned to England for six months; then, after going back to the Western Front he suffered the consequences of a German gas attack, and, treated at Rouen, he was declared unfit for active service and was transferred to the Entertainers Section of the British Army.
When Priestley left the army he studied at Cambridge University, where he completed a degree in Modern History and Political Science. Subsequently he found work as theatre reviewer with the Daily News, and also contributed to the Spectator, the Challenge and Nineteenth Century. His earliest books included The English Comic Characters (1925), The English Novel (1927), and English Humour (1928). His breakthrough came with the immensely popular novel The Good Companions, published in 1929, and Angel Pavement followed in 1930. He emerged, too, as a successful dramatist with such plays as Dangerous Corner (1932), Time and the Conways (1937), When We Are Married (1938) and An Inspector Calls (1947).
The publication of English Journey in 1934 emphasised Priestley's concern for social problems and the welfare of ordinary people.
During the Second World War Priestley became a popular and influential broadcaster with his famous Postscripts that followed the nine o'clock news BBC Radio on Sunday evenings. Starting on 5th June 1940, Priestley built up such a following that after a few months it was estimated that around 40 per cent of the adult population in Britain was listening to the programme.
Some members of the Conservative Party, including Winston Churchill, expressed concern that Priestley might be expressing left-wing views on the programme, and, to his dismay, Priestley was dropped after his talk on 20th October 1940.
After the war Priestley continued his writing, and his work invariably provoked thought, and his views were always expressed in his blunt Yorkshire style.
His prolific output continued right up to his final years, and to the end he remained the great literary all-rounder. His favourite among his books was for many years the novel Bright Day, though he later said he had come to prefer The Image Men.
It should not be overlooked that Priestley was an outstanding essayist, and many of his short pieces best capture his passions and his great talent and his mastery of the English language. He set a fine example for any would-be author.
When Priestley left the army he studied at Cambridge University, where he completed a degree in Modern History and Political Science. Subsequently he found work as theatre reviewer with the Daily News, and also contributed to the Spectator, the Challenge and Nineteenth Century. His earliest books included The English Comic Characters (1925), The English Novel (1927), and English Humour (1928). His breakthrough came with the immensely popular novel The Good Companions, published in 1929, and Angel Pavement followed in 1930. He emerged, too, as a successful dramatist with such plays as Dangerous Corner (1932), Time and the Conways (1937), When We Are Married (1938) and An Inspector Calls (1947).
The publication of English Journey in 1934 emphasised Priestley's concern for social problems and the welfare of ordinary people.
During the Second World War Priestley became a popular and influential broadcaster with his famous Postscripts that followed the nine o'clock news BBC Radio on Sunday evenings. Starting on 5th June 1940, Priestley built up such a following that after a few months it was estimated that around 40 per cent of the adult population in Britain was listening to the programme.
Some members of the Conservative Party, including Winston Churchill, expressed concern that Priestley might be expressing left-wing views on the programme, and, to his dismay, Priestley was dropped after his talk on 20th October 1940.
After the war Priestley continued his writing, and his work invariably provoked thought, and his views were always expressed in his blunt Yorkshire style.
His prolific output continued right up to his final years, and to the end he remained the great literary all-rounder. His favourite among his books was for many years the novel Bright Day, though he later said he had come to prefer The Image Men.
It should not be overlooked that Priestley was an outstanding essayist, and many of his short pieces best capture his passions and his great talent and his mastery of the English language. He set a fine example for any would-be author.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 2, 2019
I read this book some years ago and must have enjoyed it better then than I did at this second reading. J.B. Priestley always writes well but the subject of the book was very light, featuring comic, cardboard characters. To be honest, I stopped reading it well before the end. I think I will give myself a break from Priestley and read a completely different type of book next time.
March 30, 2024
I read this when I was still at school. I remember it as being well-rounded but somewhat formulaic, and it captured well the drabness of the period. I imagine it wouldn’t read well now.
November 21, 2025
Reading “Let the People Sing” was a bit like re-rereading “Good Companions” but with the characters’ names changed. I didn’t mind this at all because “Good Companions” is one of my favourite comfort reads - so having the cosy heft of “Let the People Sing” to sink into was an unexpected bonus one wet weekend.
It’s a jolly romp across the middle of England on the eve of the Second World War. An unlikely couple (a gangly emigre academic and a down-at-heel music-hall comedian) are on the run together. The novel charts their many comic (mis)adventures and the motley characters they happen across.
They settle in an unremarkable town where the gentry and the well to do live on one side, the industrialists (and the state-of-the-art American plastic factory) occupy the other side, and the ordinary folk live in the middle. The struggles between the three groups centre on the town’s disused concert hall. Should it be turned into a highbrow museum, an electrical showroom or a community music centre? (Spoiler alert: the title of the novel is the clue to what happens at the end … )
The similarities between “Let the People Sing” and “Good Companions”, written a decade earlier, are so numerous that the later novel is effectively a perfect sequel for JB Priestley fans who want more of the same.
Priestley’s stock characters who appear in both novels include smart, determined young women; overbearing landladies; hail-fellow-well-met publicans; claret-sozzled upper classes; fly-by-night tradesmen; struggling theatrical artistes; remote bosses; spirited workers; feckless husbands; long-suffering wives; and heroic but inarticulate posh boys (in the mould of Inigo Oliphant) …
This cast of slightly stereotyped and larger-than-life characters share - in both novels - the ups and downs of life which seem to revolve around gargantuan appetites for buns, sandwiches and booze; epic cross-country train journeys; seedy lodging houses and decrepit theatres; tea shops with toast and cream buns; and public bars warmed by roaring fires, good cheer and general carousing …
Some contemporary readers may find that this means there’s just a bit too much bun eating and beer drinking going on. But as Britain lurched into another world war, “Let the People Sing” may have provided the comfort and reassurance that people in 1939 found themselves very much needing.
It’s a jolly romp across the middle of England on the eve of the Second World War. An unlikely couple (a gangly emigre academic and a down-at-heel music-hall comedian) are on the run together. The novel charts their many comic (mis)adventures and the motley characters they happen across.
They settle in an unremarkable town where the gentry and the well to do live on one side, the industrialists (and the state-of-the-art American plastic factory) occupy the other side, and the ordinary folk live in the middle. The struggles between the three groups centre on the town’s disused concert hall. Should it be turned into a highbrow museum, an electrical showroom or a community music centre? (Spoiler alert: the title of the novel is the clue to what happens at the end … )
The similarities between “Let the People Sing” and “Good Companions”, written a decade earlier, are so numerous that the later novel is effectively a perfect sequel for JB Priestley fans who want more of the same.
Priestley’s stock characters who appear in both novels include smart, determined young women; overbearing landladies; hail-fellow-well-met publicans; claret-sozzled upper classes; fly-by-night tradesmen; struggling theatrical artistes; remote bosses; spirited workers; feckless husbands; long-suffering wives; and heroic but inarticulate posh boys (in the mould of Inigo Oliphant) …
This cast of slightly stereotyped and larger-than-life characters share - in both novels - the ups and downs of life which seem to revolve around gargantuan appetites for buns, sandwiches and booze; epic cross-country train journeys; seedy lodging houses and decrepit theatres; tea shops with toast and cream buns; and public bars warmed by roaring fires, good cheer and general carousing …
Some contemporary readers may find that this means there’s just a bit too much bun eating and beer drinking going on. But as Britain lurched into another world war, “Let the People Sing” may have provided the comfort and reassurance that people in 1939 found themselves very much needing.
October 15, 2010
Somewhat similar in plot to the earlier "Good Companions" and the later "Festival," although a bit lighter and less lengthy than either. As usual, it's filled with interesting characters - some hilarious, quite a few stereotypical - and heart-warming story. I love Priestley's early stuff, and if this isn't one of the best, it's still a great pleasure to read. Oh, and, unlike what the book info says, this title was actually first published in 1939.
July 17, 2010
A return to "the good companions" territory.
The misadventures of a failed music-hall comic who somehow gets involved saving a hall that has been given to a small town but which is threatened with closure.
Not at all bad lots of typical Priestley characters a very mood lifting book.
The misadventures of a failed music-hall comic who somehow gets involved saving a hall that has been given to a small town but which is threatened with closure.
Not at all bad lots of typical Priestley characters a very mood lifting book.
December 1, 2013
A nice book- the plot itself is inconsequential, Priestley's touch with characters is all that matters here. A lightweight book, not quite on a par with The Good Companions or Angel Pavement, but there are moments of humanity and pathos - as well as some good laughs.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews