The Official History of Britain: Our Story in Numbers as Told by the Office For National Statistics

by Boris Starling

‘Entertaining and absorbing’ – The Sunday Times

A wonderfully written and entertaining book which places Britain under the microscope and asks who we are today and how we’ve changed as a nation.

In 1841 there were 734 female midwives working in Britain, along with 9 artificial eye makers, 20 peg makers, 6 stamp makers and 1 bee dealer. Fast forward nearly two centuries and there are 51,000 midwives working in the UK and not an eye maker in sight!

For the past two centuries, through the Census and national surveys, the Office for National Statistics and its predecessors have charted the lives of the our jobs, home lives and strange cultural habits. With questions on occupation, housing, religion, travel and family, the Census findings have informed the economy, politics, and every other national matter. Its collected data forms the single most valuable ongoing historical resource of modern times.

Now, for the first time ever, The Official History of Britain collects these findings into a wonderfully written and entertaining book by Boris Starling and assisted by the ONS’ statistical advisor, David Bradbury. Delving deep into statistics surrounding our occupations, our working lives, relationships; our quirks, habits, weird interests and cultural beliefs, and, of course, the latest findings on the Covid-19 pandemic, The Official History of Britain places Britain under the microscope and asks who we are and how we’ve changed as a nation.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2020

About the author

Boris Starling's writing career began at the age of eight, when his English teacher spotted that his short story was (a) unusually good for a child his age (b) copied verbatim from Tintin's 'Prisoners Of The Sun.' (That was also the first time he learnt the word 'verbatim', not to mention the term 'copyright violation'.)

All his work since then has been strictly his own. He has written eight novels, including Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers. Five appear under his own name (Messiah, Storm, Vodka, Visibility and, in a daring breakout from one-word titles, The Stay-Behind Cave) and three as Daniel Blake (Soul Murder (UK)/Thou Shalt Kill (US), City Of Sins (UK)/City Of The Dead (US) and White Death). Every one of these books features someone dying horribly somewhere along the way. Sometimes they even deserve it.

Boris also created the 'Messiah' franchise which ran for seven years on BBC1, and has written screenplays for productions in the UK and US.

He has inherited his grandfather's male pattern baldness, but sadly not his prodigious height. He is a keen sportsman, though he has now reached the age where enthusiasm and experience are beginning to trump sheer skill. He lives in Dorset, England, with his wife, children, greyhounds, and however many chickens manage to keep clear of marauding foxes.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by Boris Starling and David Bradbury, this is a remarkably revealing history of Britain drawn from census and other national surveys. It features an introduction by Sir Ian Diamond, UK national statistician, pointing out the long global and British tradition of monitoring national changes, such as the 1086 Domesday Book. The importance of collating figures should not be underestimated for rulers and governments past and present, used for areas such as taxes, conscription, public policies and planning. The authors use censuses, now compulsory and carried out every 10 years, and other data that provide a snapshot of a nation over 2 centuries, looking at what has changed and what has remained constant, along with identifying national characteristics of the people.

The book is organised into 3 sections, the first looks at who we are, the second at what we do, and the third at where we live, with further sections looking back at a hundred years from the 1921 census to the present, and a more speculative look at what the 2021 census might potentially give us information on, including the fact that it will contain greater details of the impact of the current Coronovirus pandemic nationally. Areas examined are how we are born, live and die, the changing nature of family structures such as the size of families, the rise of same sex marriages and families, rising divorce rates, birth and death rates, the implications of people living longer, and since 1991, changes in ethnicity and the growing diversity of the UK. The shift from rural to urban living is charted through time and patterns in housing tenure, home ownership, homelessness, and the increasing diversity of our cities.

It is interesting to observe the changing nature of jobs and occupations through time, how the jobs market has moved in directions that have eliminated certain jobs along with the creation of new occupations in the labour market, including more homeworking, particularly with the current pandemic, a trend likely to continue post-Covid 19. The effects of technology on our lives can scarcely be ignored such as the huge increase of online shopping and growth of social media. This is a book that is likely to pique the interest of many readers, it is so informative and insightful in capturing essential elements of Britain. However, when it comes to statistics, one must always list the proviso, there are lies, damned lies and statistics! Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting concept but badly executed.
There were too many jokes and parentheses. I also felt the data was laid out badly in between text. The coronavirus chapter felt too hastily written and the final chapter on 2021 was too speculative.

[Emma Shore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history by numbers. However, the narrative would have been improved by an author without such an obvious sexist viewpoint.

[Ineke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this 5 stars, I loved reading the book, but there were just a few mistakes that meant I couldn't do that. categories mislabeled on a graph key, black and white diagrams with shades of grey too similar to decipher, and tables which didn't show units, making them confusing to interpret. as well as one instance of talking about a value decreasing and then showing it increasing..... other than that, brilliant!

[teleri · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Matthew Weait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed - not a huge fan of the future segment thought it was a bit exaggerated and reading this post covid was slightly jarring…

[Oana]

I am not going to rate this because it offered the kind of information you forget as soon as you hear.
Sometimes boring, kind of pointless, and full of healthy British humour.

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

The ONS has been charged with recording the minutiae of life in the UK through its decennial census and other data collection. Here that data is dissected and changes throughout time are considered in social context. It is a fascinating story of social change and its effects on everyday life.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read.

[Kate Jackson-Sedgwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book from start to finish! Every element of it was so interesting that I took to reading every other page out loud to my fiancée.

[Wireless · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a messy mix of statistical trends, cringe worthy asides and fictional sci-fi predictions.

The main thrust of the book was quantitative insights into social changes (including birth and death rates, the popularity of names, and the rise and fall of occupation and housing categories). For people interested in society, politics and history, these were interesting, although largely facts I would consider already in the public’s consciousness. Also included were fairly basic attempts at contextual explanations for what the numbers showed, which personally I would have liked to have seen padded out more, using qualitative findings to compliment and illuminate the figures further.

Where the book started to annoy was in the attempts at humorous commentary alongside the presentation of the census findings. As an earlier reviewer has highlighted this unfortunately took the book into sexist territory. It stereotyped people in a variety of ways, including gender and age. This was accompanied by already dated popular TV based cultural references (Love Island, Rumpole of the Bailey, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?) which could perplex some readers. One of the last chapters was a mix of these dubious attempts at comedy, with predictions of future census findings. This compounded my observation that this book is an uncomfortable mishmash.

The last chapter pulled things back slightly with ruminations on how data collections may change moving forward. However by this point despite being interested in the statistical findings, I was pleased that this reading experience was coming to an end.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was rather obviously a 'get this out quick ahead of the 2021 Census' endeavour with a helping of pandemic stats on the side... and that's not a bad idea. But it didn't entirely work for me. The humour was a little too forced and the first few chapters were both trivial and well-worn - starting with the admittedly (as they say) perennially popular topic of baby names. Some of the book didn't seem terribly well related to the census - the subject of what jobs people used to do that have disappeared, and new sorts of job is another that people find interesting but I doubt 'resurrectionist' was put down on any census form. About half way through there was a sudden gear crunching and the book became more engaging. For a while. The chapter predicting a census commentary for 2121 was a fun idea but as I have found in other books attempting it, doesn't quite work.

Fundamentally it was a bit too fluffy for me and I would have liked more about the complexities of gathering information and presenting statistics.

[Ken Sampson · Rating 2 out of 5]

[25 Mar 2021] Let's start with the biggest difficulty that this book presents. It is not the 'Official History of Britain' at all, although in fairness a quick flick through would show that. It is a collection of relatively random facts, figures and statistics from surveys, polls and the every-ten year census. It tells you nothing you don't already know, but it is a easy, light-touch, engaging and accessible read. It requires little from you in terms of effort. As others have commented the charts and graphs are so greyscale and small that reading them is a challenge. One wonders if it was written as a form of promotion for the 2021 census, that for the first time ever, was to be completed online? The logo certainly appears throughout. It mentions the Coronavirus pandemic, but was probably written too much in the middle of it to draw any conclusions. In fact, unsurprisingly, there is limited reflection on the Office for National Statistics itself, although for instance, it parades how trusted it is by the public, it fails to mention the criticism it has received on say, recording Covid deaths as 'Any deaths, for any reasons, 28-days after a positive Covid rest.'

There are times when it becomes too political and a metropolitan elite and London centric narrative shines through. I was particularly struck by the much trotted out 'lets all celebrate diversity' as 'we have have always been a nation of immigrants' line. It gives us the evidence of one grave of a Roman soldier as proof! Celebrating 'diversity,' which some might argue is a political euphemism for 'putting up with' mass-immigration surely depends on your own politics and is best avoided here.

It ends with a crazy out-of-place Chapter about the future of the UK in one-hundred years time - all the usual nonsense is included and if I am honest I found it awful to read. This is a book that ultimately fails on all levels - if you want an Official History of Britain look for infinitely superior history books elsewhere and if you want to know more about the History of the British census, I'd suggest Roger Hutchinson's book - The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick-Maker: The Story of Britain through its Census, since 1801, which is in my opinion, a significantly better book. It left me disappointment and would I recommend it? No, sorry Boris Starling and David Bradbury I would not - as it was based on an unclear premise and was poorly executed.

[Book-Social · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hats off to Starling and Bradbury, they really do take a dry subject matter and make it readable. The stats are there don’t get me wrong (the number of baby girls named Alexa halved between 2017 and 2018 due to Amazon’s electronic know it all) but there’s a sarcastic wit running through and the decisions as to what stats were included genius.

It was written just before England and Wales’ most recent census and slap bang in middle of the pandemic. The comparisons between the 1921 census and 2021 are eyebrow raising. Don’t forget Spanish flu had just ravaged the population 100 years ago. I did find the lack of colour in the charts problematic especially given it was a hardback. The future predictions section was also slightly unnecessary but overall I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the read and the book.

[Vincent Sykes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really really enjoyed this book !! It even made me start googling possible work experience and career prospects I’d have at the ONS haha. The writer constantly uses a really effective comedic flare which keep the reader interested and engaged. Even at times where statistics became particularly laborious Starling still managed to keep me intrigued. The only criticism I could raise would perhaps be that sometimes the numbers and facts do go on a bit and i don’t need every single fact provided to be to the very digit the ONS records then for. That being said such an issue would be useful to those using this as research material.
On the whole I’d say this is a really well written and engaging book. On my way to find more of Boris Starling’s work as soon as I’ve posted this review :)

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting for statistics buffs like me, but marred by Boris Starling’s forced joviality, a well-meant attempt to lighten a dense subject but distracting and really unnecessary: the facts are engaging in their own right. The education section is interesting: A-level choices (apart from psychology) are not greatly different from 50 years since. But degree choices are relentlessly vocational; the cost of university attendance is very high. It’s a shame the book came out before most of the 2021 census data became available but there is still much to chew on since 1801. We are very fortunate to have so much historical data, particularly given the pace of change in the 19th Century. As the book points out, humans are driving ever faster changes and who knows but AI could be the biggest, fastest and most disruptive yet.

[Anastasiia G Kovalenko, PhD · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for sending me the book to review.
Having read the description, I was quite intrigued. It's usually difficult for me to remember numbers, although I use ONS data in my research and publications all the time. I found this book very interesting. The author gives you another perspective on everyday life in the UK.
The last chapter, where the author speculates about the future, did not sound right to me though.
It would be interesting to read a similar book in 50(ish) years and think "oh, I was one of those that year," or "what a decade that was."

[Rania Ioannou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Using the Census records and the national surveys data, the author attempts to paint the picture of the history of Britain for the past two centuries. It is an interesting read, and surprisingly very easy to read although it is about numbers. However, I am not convinced about the truth that these numbers reveal. Indeed the census records inform national decisions but whether they are really representative is another matter that needs a lot of discussion.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am probably being a bit mean with two stars, but it didn't quite merit a three. While full of fascinating insights, I found the tone rather annoying, with the attempts at humour being rather cringeworthy.

Possibly would have been better to read this rather than listen to the audio, as I expect there are useful graphs and charts and tables ... it was mentioned that I could access this visual material via a downloadable PDF but I wasn't sufficiently interested to seek it out.

[Gareth Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had thought this would be right up my street. Unfortunately, while most of it was an easy read, it didn’t really tell the history of Britain in statistics. Some of it was interesting enough and I would have given it a 3 star review but for the predictions chapter of what things would be like in 2121. Bizarre ending to the book

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting, informative and entertaining story of Britain, full of data.
The author did an excellent job in delivering a history book based on data and making it compelling and enjoyable.
It's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting listen, though I think I would have been able to understand it better by reading it. Who knew that there is so much data and that it can be used in such relevant ways?

Listened to going to and from work.

[Rwby Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and often witty guided tour through the history of Britain. Learnt lots, including some fun little trivia bits. It ends with a humerus projection of what 2121 will be like which I enjoyed thoroughly

[Graeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry of course, but fascinating.
I do like statistics and it would be worth another read. Bang up to date, taking about COVID etc!

[Colby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely effort. May it return [with greater grammatical input.

[Simon Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting data presented by a man who thought he was funny but wasn’t.

[Trevor Vick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Office for National Statistics keeping us abreast with who we are, what we do and how we’ve changed. The final chapter - life in the 22nd century was particularly interesting.

[Roxanna Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly okay coffee table book that was stretched out into a short novel

[Matt Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, full of interesting statistics. The final chapter, predicting what the 2121 census might look like was particularly interesting.