Yorkshire: A lyrical history of England's greatest county

by Richard Morris

Yorkshire is 'a continent unto itself', a region where mountain, plain, coast, downs, fen and heath lie close. By weaving history, family stories, travelogue and ecology, Richard Morris reveals how Yorkshire took shape as a landscape and in literature, legend and popular regard. The result is a fascinating and wide-ranging meditation on Yorkshire and Yorkshireness, told through the prism of the region's most extraordinary people and places.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, British Literature, Nature, Historical

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2018

About the author

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Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOTW

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09r...

Description: Yorkshire is one of Europe's most geologically varied areas - a realm where mountain, plain, coast, chalk hills, wetland and heath intermingle.

In Richard Morris' Yorkshire, we discover the county through eyes of artists like J M W Turner, William Callow and Henry Moore - and the imagination of writers such as The Brontes, Winifred Holtby and J B Priestley. We travel to the county's netherworld of caves, mines and tunnels, and confront dark subjects such as the part played by Whitby and Hull in the emptying of Arctic seas and shores of whales and bears. Yorkshire explores the tumultuous history of the county and asks why it has so often been to the fore in times of conflict or tension - think Wars of the Roses, Civil War, Cold War, the miners' strike of 1984.

Both in area and population, Yorkshire today is larger than many member countries of the UN, yet remains just an English county. Richard Morris delivers a wide-ranging, lyrical and very personal history of God's Own County.

Richard Morris is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Huddersfield. He was Director of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) from 1991 to 1999. His interest in churches, settlement, historical topography, cultural history and aviation are reflected in essays, articles and books. His book Time's Anvil: England, Archaeology and the Imagination was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and shortlisted for the 2015 Archaeological Book of the Year. His other publications include Churches In The Landscape (1989) as well as biographies of Guy Gibson (1994) and Leonard Cheshire (2000).

Scarborough 1870

Scarborough 1912

[JMJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘Yorkshire: A Potted History’ might have been more appropriate. Morris seems to flit back and forth between very local areas and particular families to give an account of the three Ridings of Yorkshire. I found the long-winded and non-linear order of many of the sections off-putting. I also imagine that much of the subject matter was interesting to Morris himself but for me it did very little - hypothesising about the fictional character of Robin Hood based on no factual evidence, three pages talking about the anatomy and physiognomy of whales and excerpts from fishing magazines twinned with drab stories of Yorkshire families did very little justice to the county and its rich culture.

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's England's largest county and one whose history encompasses every era of time. From the prehistoric creatures and landscape to the very modern, this book takes a trip around the wonderful diversity that is Yorkshire. At times Morris talks about very personal family history and at other times muses on landscape. Altogether it shows a picture of a diverse and wonderful part of the country and, yes I am biased, it is God's Own Country.

[Calum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, the book blends the personal with the grand. It reminded me of Sunday afternoons with my grandad in the dales and he regaled me with a mix of local stories or described the different geographical makeup of the areas we would visit around gods own county.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of interesting stories about Yorkshire but a bit rambling in parts. I did enjoy reading the book, but not exactly a page turner. More like sitting with an old timer and listening to his yarns! I lived in Durham but am very familiar with Yorkshire and did learn some new facts. The book starts and ends with the cruel treatment of conscientious objectors in WW I. Good living Yorkshire men who just could not accept war. Now Yorkshire is home to many people from all over the world!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morris starts his history of Yorkshire by talking about how it was formed geologically billions of years ago. This is a look at the history, topography and character of the largest county (combined) in the country. Fascinating and well-written.

[Sonny Peart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical indeed. Full of anecdote. Erudite. Steeped in the geological, political and cultural history of Yorkshire, as a Yorkshire Teabag is steeped in water.

[Overbylass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much .I will admit I listened to it as 'Book of the Week' on Radio 4. It was indeed lyrical and poetic, drawing from this wonderful county, stories of myth, magic, war, religion, geology ,archaeology.... Episodes 3 and 5 were particularly moving. I will certainly buy the book,having listened to the Radio 4 abridged version.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09rx200

[John Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

One man's rather idiosyncratic view of Yorkshire. I found the style and the organisation rather off-putting, often digressing or shooting away at a tangent. A personal view rather than a lyrical history which obviously made a lot of the sense to the author but was less enlightening to the average reader. Approach with caution as this book might not quite be what you expect. I was just left a bit disappointed as if there was a better book struggling to rise out of the shell of this one.

[Dan Carey]

One needs a deeper grounding in English geography and history than I have to appreciate this book, I believe. The writing seemed fine (although it struck me as jumping between subjects and time periods a lot). But I wasn't going to get from it what I had hoped.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted a book about Yorkshire, not whales, Canada and whatever else the author was thinking about at the time.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yorkshire is so diverse, so multifarious, so big, that it's near impossible to write a comprehensive popular history of it. Richard Morris makes a valiant job of capturing the complex and multi-stranded story of 'England's greatest county' by taking a personal, discursive and anecdotal approach. He doesn't attempt to be comprehensive or authoritative, but instead focuses in on key and character-forming elements of its environment and story. His approach generally works very well. He certainly knows his stuff: he is a Yorkshireman himself and professor of archaeology at at Yorkshire university. The book is immensely and pleasurably readable, and packed with 'I never knew that' facts, but the approach he takes does leave some significant gaps in the county's story. Sheffield, Yorkshire's second largest city, only gets the occasional passing mention, and coverage of the West Riding in general seems disappointingly thin for what was (and is) by far the largest and most populated part of the county. But these are minor points in comparison with the sheer enjoyment and interest that the book (and the county) provide.

[Celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a detailed and well researched book that covers a wealth of variety in its stories of the people and events that shape the county today. The chapters that include aspects of the two world wars and those that concentrate on the landscape were most interesting to me whilst there were other chapters that frankly I got bored with as they had too much detail on marginal areas of the history and the culture of my favourite county. A wet day in Bawtry’s linking of the medieval glass in a church telling the story of Armageddon with the Fylingdales Cold War observations was so fascinating I went back and read it again when I finished the book. My three stars therefore do not reflect the diligence and thoroughness of the author but rather the fact that this book jumps around so many different aspects of the area that it was bound to have sections that did not appeal.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book on all things Yorkshire, that is made up of many different things, geography, personal history and general history, travelogue, maps and references to the literature and folklore of the town.
It is written in an interesting and sometimes even poetic way. The only criticism I have is that sometimes it feels erratic with the non linear way it reveals knowledge about somethings at some parts, but when you get into it is easy enough to follow.
Your not just getting general information about Yorkshire in this book, but the history of conscientious objectors in the world war, wars through history, the origins of the names of favourite streets, literary landmarks, and even the origins of Robin Hood.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indeed it was lyrical and broadly historical bringing the land from Pangea to Lurasia, when the UK mass was below the equator, which he uses to develop the lay of the land the the minerals and geology that exists today. It's quite a wide, fascinating scope, also using personal storpreservaties to illustrate the some of the Yorkshire character, although at some point I'd like to read more about that and the differents between the "northerers" and the "southerners." in Englad. Morris clearly loves the area and since it as the place where half my ancestors are from, I was curious to know more about it, especially as we were visiting York, a really amazing place for medieval preservation.

[Andrew Macfarlane · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting at times but not very ordered or structured. there are some interesting facts to be gained from reading it but also a lot of wandering and some supposition on minimal evidence. very heavily orientated towards the East Riding, which in itself is not a problem, but gives the lie to the idea it is about all Yorkshire. All Yorkshire is of interest and as I'm about to holiday in the East then it has been useful to read it. I guess I was expecting something akin to Dan Jacksons Northumbrians. However interesting it can be this book flits about too much and doesn't have the same structure and themed chapters.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meandering and often feeling pointless. People of interest are picked randomly it seems, and large swaths of yorkshire are ignored. Particularly sheffield, which never even warrants its own sentence, let alone chapter or passage. The early pieces centered on york the city as well as the later short chapter on Robin hood are probably the only parts I find of interest. The rest follows almost no order.

[Moirad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyrical is absolutely the right word to describe this unconventional history. Not a straightforward chronological account, this meandering retelling contains a combination of geology, archaeology, geography, anecdotes, family history,and politics, as well as events and people, both well known and new to me. Excellent.

[Ned Netherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets off to an excellent start, all poetical, personal and meandering but suffers from a bad last section that really misses out the West Riding in favor of tenuous Robin Hood connections and stuff about going away on holiday.

[Susan Grimshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange book, supposedly about Yorkshire, but going off on many tangents. There are some interesting nuggets of information, but a lot of rambling in amongst. I struggled a bit to get through it, but did enjoy the parts I found relevant to my interests.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating snippets scattered through a book that doesn't feel very coherently organised. Sometimes hard to follow. But it leaves me with a long list of places to visit when we're allowed once again to visit places.

[Toast · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some interesting facts but a book, for me, it did not make. Ideal for pub quizzers, coffee table book readers and those with a very short attention span.
Toast
PS Interesting argument for Robin Hood for Barnsdale.

[James Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating book looking at the history of the Largest county in the UK. Mainly focused on the East Riding, the west riding gets barely 3 pages of basic facts that anyone could Google. Then it goes into the story of Robin Hood which according to modern tellings lived in Nottinghamshire.

[Debi Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in anticipation of a research trip to Yorkshire. While I don't know why this is considered 'lyrical,' I did enjoy it, especially in the early sections where the author describes how the land came to be how it is. I found it fascinating.

[JoJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting narrative on the great county taken from different aspects and giving insight into the land and peoples

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5]

[AnnaG · Rating 4 out of 5]

A potted history of Yorkshire with some interesting local history. Some of the stories were a little bland eg ring-roads of York, but overall an enjoyable romp through the county.

[Tim Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to dip into when a bit low. Cheers me up and it won’t be put on the shelf.

[Nathalie Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Throughly enjoyed it but it had the potential to be so much more than what felt like a history / geology book

[Lawrie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times I found this fascinating and then other times quite dull

The stories of York and history of some of the roads and battles was good but the author did waffle a bit too much in parts