Looking North: Northern England and the national imagination

by Dave Russell

Investigating areas as diverse as travel literature, fiction, dialect, the stage, radio, and television, feature film, music and sport, this fascinating book assesses the attitudes and portrayal of the North of England within the national culture and how this has impacted upon attitudes to the region and its place within notions of ‘Englishness’.

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[Matthew Gurteen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone whose research currently involves the north of England, this book is invaluable. It is incredibly engaging and covers various topics related to Yorkshire, Lancashire, and all of the other counties in the 'Seven-County North.' Because of its broad subject matter, 'Looking North: Northern England and the National Imagination' is not as thorough as other articles, but this is to be expected. Dave Russell nevertheless approaches northern identity and consciousness well in an academic context. My only criticism is that this book is slightly outdated now, being almost two decades old. Obviously, Russell cannot be blamed for this, so I am not going to remove a star. For anyone using this book for research, though, just be aware of recent developments in almost all of Russell's chapters. Other than this minor point, I really enjoyed learning about regional identity through this book. It has made me think about many points I had not considered before, and I would recommend it to anyone whose research involves any of the titled subjects.