A House Through Time

by David Olusoga

In recent years house histories have become the new frontier of popular, participatory history. People, many of whom have already embarked upon that great adventure of genealogical research, and who have encountered their ancestors in the archives and uncovered family secrets, are now turning to the secrets contained within the four walls of their homes and in doing so finding a direct link to earlier generations. And it is ordinary homes, not grand public buildings or the mansions of the rich that have all the best stories. As with the television series, A House Through Time offers readers not only the tools to explore the histories of their own homes, but also a vividly readable history of the British city, the forces of industry, disease, mass transportation, crime and class. The rises and falls, the shifts in the fortunes of neighbourhoods and whole cities are here, tracing the often surprising journey one single house can take from elegant dwelling in a fashionable district to a tenement for society’s rejects. Packed with remarkable human stories, it is a phenomenal insight into living history, a history we can see every day on the streets where we live. And it reminds us that it is at home that we are truly ourselves. It is there that the honest face of life can be seen. At home, behind closed doors and drawn curtains, we live out our inner lives and family lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Architecture, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2020

Reviews

[Albert Steeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read, but don't expect it to be like the BBC series with the same name. This is the book that can be seen as the base to that. It's about the history of houses; the building of houses; the change through time of homes; the history of neighbourhoods; the policies of governments and local authorities towards houses, homes and neighbourhoods. It's very detailed, well illustrated and gives a great insight in the subjects in a sociological view. More than that this book gives us a better understanding of houses and housing in our contempary time. It even gives us handles how to investigate the past of our own houses. All in all, as I already wrote: I think this is a great read and I enjoyed reading it.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this very much. I didn't see much of the TV series and I was expecting this to be "the book of the series", which it isn't - it is further reading on the social, geographical and historical background of housing, land use - urban life in Britain (and its rural antecedents). The mix of urban history and geography is one which appeals to many of my interests and it sets so much in perspective. There are lots of interesting leads to follow up in the resources and bibliography at the end.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a little disappointing. I am very interested in the history of domestic architecture, but there are precious few books on the subject written for the layman. So I had high expectations when I stumbled upon this one. It was written to accompany the TV series of the same name, which was more about the people who lived in the houses than the houses themselves. And just focussed on three Georgian houses in different cities.

So there was lots about infrastructure , the development of cities, what sort of people lived in these houses, how to investigate the history of your house. But for me, not enough of basic facts of how building styles evolved, what the rooms were in a typical house at any period, and what they were used for, how decorative style and techniques changed over the years etc etc. This is the sort of thing I want to read about. So if anyone out there knows all this stuff, please write a book about it - I will definitely want to read it!

[Anne Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and read it so fast. i thought it was going to be about the houses on the TV shows, but it was much deeper and more interesting - a whole history of housing in Britain.

Sparing nothing about the wealth accruing from slavery or property development, greedy landlords and mill owners, we see how the patterns of housing grew, crossed each other, and most interestingly how smart fashionable areas changed to becoming slums, because of new developments such as the railway (enabling rich people to move away from smoke-filled cities), smokeless zones meaning that they are coming back again! Slum clearance from inconvenient places (often using new roads or railways as excuse for them to be destroyed).

Great discussion about the advent of council housing, the 1945 Labour government policies and how they got watered down ...
so much that rings true today with our appalling housing crisis

[Gareth Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first chapter gives an overview of the sources that amateur historians might use to investigate the history of a house. I was familiar with much of this, but I also found new insights and the chapter is clear and well organised. What follows is an excellent history of housing in England (there is little mention of the other home nations). It’s non-technical, fast-paced, full of contemporary material and very readable. A tour de force of clear, interesting historical writing.

[thewoollygeek (tea, cake, crochet & books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the TV series 'A House Through Time' so I was really happy they produced this book to learn more and it didn't disappoint in anyway , I love social history and tying it into housing one of basic needs is a fantastic and unique way to learn more about our history, It's a fascinating and you will learn even more from this.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Schopflin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love urban history and this has plenty of interesting detail to sit with The Fields Beneath, Outskirts and Greater London. I didn't see the series but I think I would have been a bit disappointed if I was expecting the history of the houses' inhabitants.

[IrmaJolanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book compliments the (so far) 3 part television series but is a fascinating read on its own as well

[Patrick Barritt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read it started with ideas of how to research your own house history but got better as it skimmed forward through the social history of ordinary people's houses and homes discussing themes and ideas we still hold today. You can pick it up and come back to it and I found it sending me off to other areas of research and interest. I guess it is just an over view but enjoyable and I would recommend it to you Beth.

[Louise Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved watching the BBC television series, A House Through Time, presented by David Olusoga. I adore history and finding out about old houses, and had assumed this book tied into that with perhaps a little bit about how to go about researching the history of your own house. Although the first chapter does give lots of tips on how to do this, A House Through Time is pretty much what the title suggests - a social history of housing from Roman times to the present date. There are also a few references to the houses that featured in the TV series, where relevant.

Reading this book felt a lot like sitting in a time machine, watching as houses were built, knocked down and built over again. We moved rapidly through the medieval period, got slightly bogged down with Victorian slums, before speeding up again through the 20th century. The book is packed full of quirky facts - who knew that chimneys weren't invented until the 1200s? - and the fascinating lives of the people who influenced trends (both good and bad!) in house building.

Although A House Through Time was not quite what I was expecting, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Of particular interest to me was the section on the Victorian 'villas' (I grew up in one and this book explains a lot!), the back-to-back slums that my ancestors lived in, and how the cancellation of brick tax meant builders could go mad with different patterns and ornamentations. I had often wondered why this became a trend!

Recommended for anyone who loves old houses, history, and would like to research their own house's history.


Thank you to David Olusoga, Melanie Backe-Hansen and Pan Macmillan for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of British homes and thereby society.

[Ophelia Sings · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute treasure trove of a treat this terrific book is. I adored all three series of A House Through Time - one of which featured a house in my own neighbourhood. The book is equally fascinating, enlightening and engaging.

The opening chapters, along with the excellent resources at the book's end, provide a wealth of information and inspiration for those wishing to conduct their own research into the history of their home (and the stories of those who have lived in them). Now, I live in a relatively modern, mid-century apartment block, so I didn't really expect to gain much from this section. Reader, I was wrong. One recommended map website later, and a whole lot of Googling, and I found the name of the farm which until the 1950s occupied the land my home is built on - and its history, and even photographs of it. How utterly wonderful.

In the later chapters, Olusoga brings to life the wraiths who haunt our homes, adding vibrant colour to the history of not just bricks and mortar but also the concept of home in ages past. From the grandest Regency townhouses to the most noisome, desperate slums (often, as time wore on, one and the same), all human life is here. Including, heartbreakingly, the dreadful riverbank slum in which several generations of my husband's family lived - and died.

This book is essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered about the lives of the souls who once occupied the house in which they lived, or for anyone with a passion for the past (that'd be me). Beautifully written, lively and impeccably researched, there's a deep empathy here with those who have gone before - they feel almost close enough to touch.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Michael Hillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not simply a re-telling of the "A House Through Time" series which focused on individual occupants of the houses; rather it is a parallel account of the history of housing in Britain. Fascinating and full of intriguing facts. Of local interest, Sea Mills on the edge of Bristol was the first (and probably best) of the post 1918 council estates. In June 1919, Christopher Addison, the man put in charge of the creation of these estates, dug the first sod, and a commemorative tree was planted by the Lady Mayor. I cycled over to Sea Mills today to pay homage to the "Addison Oak", visit the "museum" (actually a display in a redundant phone box) and cycle through the estate rather than the main road right through the centre.

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

Having really loved all four series of the TV programme 'A House Through Time' I was looking forward to reading this book and it didn't disappoint. Although written prior to the latest series the book only makes tangential references to the properties featured and instead takes a broad brush approach which works well. Social history is tied up with housing and the two authors consider a logical trajectory from Roman times to the now and link our need for shelter to developments in housing. It's a fascinating read and well worth the effort.

[Amy Doolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book that walks through the history of 300 years of housing and draws on the examples used on the tv series. I learnt a lot about house names, trends and just general everyday housing. Living in a new build and being occupant number 1 means I have no passed history to share with previous tenants but it means I get to start a new chapter! Recommend for those who enjoy social history that discusses ‘everyday people’ rather than just the highest 5% of society.

[R Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with any history work by David Olusoga, and this work ( with Melanie Backe-Hansen ) is no different. As it happens I have only seen series 4 of the TV show, and therefore not seen the shows focusing on the houses that are mentioned in this book, but it is hardly important, as the book serves as a much broader history of the house, home, dwelling of the ( mostly ) ordinary residents as far as our evidence allows us to understand, beginning with roman era settlements and ending with a whistlestop tour of developments since the second world war.

The meat of the history mind you is centred on living conditions and challenges for inhabitants, and the opportunities (or opportunism perhaps) undertaken by some individuals within the period for which we have most records, which roughly then is from the Georgian period onwards, though Tudor and Stuart era lives are given life too. It fleshes out why and where housing developed, how fashions changed and practicalities forced developments, whilst the slums of Victorian city living make for particularly grim reading.

There are perennial themes across the generations of course. The wealthy wishing to distance themselves from the poor, quick to embrace transport, beginning with The Omnibus, which in itself radicalised how individuals could live, facilitating the country life, alongside the urban workspace. Inevitably in all grand shifts it's the poorest who always suffer, displaced during slum clearances, pushed out through gentification efforts, the bottom rung on the ladder often found themselves at the whim of the rich and powerful regarding the very basic necessities for living.

It is a compelling and fascinating social history that illuminates how central our attitudes to home and the house are, and how they've changed. From necessary abode, to an Englishman's suburban castle. All conveyed in an engaging and measured style, that so efficiently condenses and swathes of history into digestible narratives, without ever feeling like you're being short-changed. It overflows with detail and provides an excellent resource that one can return to again and again for those who live in a house old enough to be interesting and who wish to know more.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely fascinating. I picked it up on a whim at my local library and was very pleasantly surprised.

I wrongly assumed it was going to talk specifically about three houses featured in the BBC series of the same name (that I haven't watched but now really want to!) in Liverpool, Bristol and Newcastle.

Instead the scope of the book is much broader, discussing architecture, taste, decor, family dynamics, health and sanitation, planning law, industrialization and much more throughout the ages. I was surprised to learn of the amount of bodging and cowboy builder-ing even back in the likes of Georgian and Victorian times! 😂😂 People have seemingly always tried to make the most money from their investments with little regard to the consequences for other humans.

A great read if you're into the history of old houses and how laws, trends and tastes have changed over the centuries.

[Piers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where the BBC TV series of the same name delved very much into the personal history of the kind of people who don't normally come to light, this book is very much more focused on the actual bricks an mortar. It examines the history of house building, styles, construction, societal pressures, legal and economics, to give a picture of the evolution of the British town and city. As such it is somewhat drier subject matter, but I still feel like a learned a lot. And there are the odd bits of personal history peppered throughout. So perhaps if you enjoyed the show for the people, this might not necessarily be what you were after.

There is also an interesting and useful introduction in the first chapter as to how you might go about researching the history of your own house. Anyone in need of a pet project will be much better armed to do just that.

[Mike Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good neighbour: modestly entertaining companion to the BBC series of the same name, packed with helpful hints about tracing your own home’s lineage,and the odd bit of sharp social commentary, if slightly let down by the ghost’s occasionally clumsy style, eg “…the surviving Georgian quarters of our larger cities have become the flames to which millions of tourists are drawn.” Ah, those coach parties of pyromaniacs from all over the world flocking to Toxteth and Moss Side. What comes across more clearly is that the private sector alone cannot solve the housing crisis that has effectively lurched along intermittently since the industrial revolution, bedevilling a substantial proportion of the populace, and that timidity and inaction by government won’t do. Not bad for one of BBC2’s infotainment/lifestyle strands.

[Misty Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a little difficult to contextualise this book but, if you are interested in the 'timeline' of housing provision for the general public it does give a thorough and readable account of the subject.

I found some of the chapters a little 'heavy' but this is not a problem caused by the writing which is generally kept to an accessible level. I think my problem was more down to not having sufficient interest in the period covered [generally from the Georgian period (18thC) forward to the mid-20thC]. If the reader has an interest in social history of that period then they will probably engage better than I did.

The book goes into more depth than the three TV series did which is good - there would be little point in simply trying to reproduce the series on paper.

Overall a good read for those interested in the subject

[Gareth Winrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed with the book, given that I am a fan of David Olusoga and his TV series. Perhaps the title of the book is a little misleading. I was expecting something much more along the lines of the TV series. There are occasional references to the three houses examined on TV, but most of the book is a general overview of the history of housing in Britain. Chapter One does provide a very useful account of how and where to access sources to study the history of one's own house. But after that, the book turns to provide a chronological overview of the development of housing. Readers, though, will find the bibliography to be of value.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent short study of domestic urban building in Britain. Professor Olusoga uses the three properties that featured in the first three series of his TV programme, "A House Through Time" as references. Yet this book ranges more widely to cover the whole history of the domestic home. As well as chronological analyses, the book discusses how research into these matters can be undertaken at any level of expertise. This is accessible, stimulating and persuasive writing which is strongly recommended.

[Jamie Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book based on the fantastic BBC series of the same name, the first chapter explains what you should look for when researching a house’s history. The later chapters provide a wonderful trip through history of the British fascination with homes, it also provides a wonderful social history of the country. A fantastic book!

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting summary of the socio economic development of housing in the UK over the centuries. I read it thinking it was an accompaniment to the TV series but it isn’t really. Although there are references to the houses studied in the first 3 series of the TV series it isn’t really about the houses but a much broader sweep of history.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Rather than being structured around individual houses, it's mostly (after an introduction to documentary sources and research methods) an account of the history of British house building. It would be helpful on the question "how did my house get to be like this?", but is also unexpectedly insightful on the broader question "how did British cities get to be like this?"

[Ruth Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly done - this is not a book of the series but an accompanying history of how people lived.
David and Melanie weave the story of houses impacted by legislation and social history into a reference guide to the progress of dwellings. Must read for family historians.

[Philip McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent background to the first three series of the BBC TV programme, and a trip through time concentrating on the factors that influenced how we built homes from the departure of the Romans onwards.

[Teddy Dodger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh

[Zoe Obstkuchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was glued to the television programme and found the book equally interesting.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book and I look forward to watching the series.