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English Journey
In 1934, JB Priestley published an account of his journey through England from Southampton to the Black Country, to the North East and Newcastle, to Lincoln, Norfolk and Norwich. In capturing and describing an English landscape and people hitherto unconsidered, he influenced thinking and attitudes and helped formulate a public consensus for change that led to the formation of the welfare state. English Journey expresses Priestley's deep love of his native country and teaches us much about the human condition and the nature of Englishness. A fully illustrated special anniversary edition was published by William Heinemann in 1984, and in 1997 came the Folio edition which was a version of the 1984 edition with minor emendations. It contains many evocative photographs and an introduction by Margaret Drabble.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1934
83 people are currently reading
1618 people want to read
About the author
J.B. Priestley
470 books288 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 - 30 of 59 reviews
May 30, 2023
It was Victor Gollancz who commissioned two pieces of English travel writing from two gifted but very different writers. One was The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell, the other was this one, English Journey.
English Journey is subtitled...
"English journey being a rambling but truthful account of what one man saw and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the autumn of the year 1933 by J.B. Priestley."
...which sums it up very succinctly.
In 1934, J.B. Priestley published this account of a journey through England from Southampton to the Black Country, to the North East and Newcastle, to Norwich and then back to his home in Highgate, London. His account is very personal and idiosyncratic, and in it he muses on how towns and regions have changed, their history, amusing pen pictures of those he encounters, and all of this is enhanced by a large side order of realism and hard-nosed opinion. The book was a best seller when it was published and apparently had an influence on public attitudes to poverty and welfare, and the eventual formation of the welfare state.
The book also makes a fascinating companion piece to In Search Of England by H.V. Morton, which was published a few years earlier, and was another enormously successful English travelogue, however one that provides a far more romantic version of England, an England untroubled by poverty and the depression. Like H.V. Morton's book, English Journey has never been out of print.
English Journey is a fascinating account, and the edition I read, published by Great Northern Books, is also illustrated with over 80 modern and archive photos. It's a really beautiful book and one I heartily recommend.
The introduction by the always readable and interesting Stuart Maconie made me chuckle too...
"If, as a writer, J.B. Priestley had just been brilliant, humane, elegant, virile, intelligent, witty and technically dazzling, he'd be arguably considered the pre-eminent British literary talent of his age. Sadly for him though, he also laboured beneath the crushing burden of being accessible, engaging, crystal clear and enormously popular. The mandarins of the metropolitan elite like their 'provincial' voices to stay just that if possible, or at least to have the decency to be faintly troubled and attractively doomed, like say D.H. Lawrence or John Lennon, rather than rich, successful, boundlessly gifted and ordered like J.B. Priestley or Paul McCartney. The riches and success must have been some consolation."
4/5
English Journey is subtitled...
"English journey being a rambling but truthful account of what one man saw and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the autumn of the year 1933 by J.B. Priestley."
...which sums it up very succinctly.
In 1934, J.B. Priestley published this account of a journey through England from Southampton to the Black Country, to the North East and Newcastle, to Norwich and then back to his home in Highgate, London. His account is very personal and idiosyncratic, and in it he muses on how towns and regions have changed, their history, amusing pen pictures of those he encounters, and all of this is enhanced by a large side order of realism and hard-nosed opinion. The book was a best seller when it was published and apparently had an influence on public attitudes to poverty and welfare, and the eventual formation of the welfare state.
The book also makes a fascinating companion piece to In Search Of England by H.V. Morton, which was published a few years earlier, and was another enormously successful English travelogue, however one that provides a far more romantic version of England, an England untroubled by poverty and the depression. Like H.V. Morton's book, English Journey has never been out of print.
English Journey is a fascinating account, and the edition I read, published by Great Northern Books, is also illustrated with over 80 modern and archive photos. It's a really beautiful book and one I heartily recommend.
The introduction by the always readable and interesting Stuart Maconie made me chuckle too...
"If, as a writer, J.B. Priestley had just been brilliant, humane, elegant, virile, intelligent, witty and technically dazzling, he'd be arguably considered the pre-eminent British literary talent of his age. Sadly for him though, he also laboured beneath the crushing burden of being accessible, engaging, crystal clear and enormously popular. The mandarins of the metropolitan elite like their 'provincial' voices to stay just that if possible, or at least to have the decency to be faintly troubled and attractively doomed, like say D.H. Lawrence or John Lennon, rather than rich, successful, boundlessly gifted and ordered like J.B. Priestley or Paul McCartney. The riches and success must have been some consolation."
4/5
June 12, 2023
This recently republished book is now available on audio.
Subtitled: A rambling but truthful account of what one man saw and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the autumn of the year 1933 by J.B. Priestley
He travels from Southampton up to the northeastern coastline.
To be read in July with the GR group "Reading the 20th Century".
********************
A very good book! It gives readers an accurate view of the England of 1933 not seen in tourist books. Priestley shows what needed to be improved. Sharing his observations of the social problems he witnessed, he supplicates for democratic socialist change. A patriot to the core, he sought to bring about changes vital for the nation and its people.
*I appreciate the dignity Priestly affords the working class people.
*The book gives interesting details about places infrequently spoken of.
*Priestly comes out with fun, imaginative ideas. One example—he jokingly suggests that just as we have military conscription, work in mines should or could be dealt with in the same fashion! This would quickly bring an end to miners’ low wages and incredibly bad working conditions.
*Priestly concludes by pointing out places where beneficial methods of town planning have succeeded. He doesn’t just complain and criticize; he shows where and how things have gone right!
Sean Baker reads the audiobook. He speaks in a jerky, stop and start fashion. This staccato tempo is very unpleasant to listen to. It squashes the humor in the author’s lines. I’ll give you an example. When he reads even the very short sentence “This did not surprise me,” he comes to a stop three times, after the words “this”, “not” and at the sentence’s end. Getting through a long sentence is even worse! By the end of the book, you have kind of gotten used to this very strange manner of reading. Because the words are not hard to hear, I generously decided on three stars for the audiobook’s narration.
********************
Priestley’s trip has been retraced by Stuart Maconie. See the recently published The Full English: A Journey in Search of a Country and its People.
Subtitled: A rambling but truthful account of what one man saw and heard and felt and thought during a journey through England during the autumn of the year 1933 by J.B. Priestley
He travels from Southampton up to the northeastern coastline.
To be read in July with the GR group "Reading the 20th Century".
********************
A very good book! It gives readers an accurate view of the England of 1933 not seen in tourist books. Priestley shows what needed to be improved. Sharing his observations of the social problems he witnessed, he supplicates for democratic socialist change. A patriot to the core, he sought to bring about changes vital for the nation and its people.
*I appreciate the dignity Priestly affords the working class people.
*The book gives interesting details about places infrequently spoken of.
*Priestly comes out with fun, imaginative ideas. One example—he jokingly suggests that just as we have military conscription, work in mines should or could be dealt with in the same fashion! This would quickly bring an end to miners’ low wages and incredibly bad working conditions.
*Priestly concludes by pointing out places where beneficial methods of town planning have succeeded. He doesn’t just complain and criticize; he shows where and how things have gone right!
Sean Baker reads the audiobook. He speaks in a jerky, stop and start fashion. This staccato tempo is very unpleasant to listen to. It squashes the humor in the author’s lines. I’ll give you an example. When he reads even the very short sentence “This did not surprise me,” he comes to a stop three times, after the words “this”, “not” and at the sentence’s end. Getting through a long sentence is even worse! By the end of the book, you have kind of gotten used to this very strange manner of reading. Because the words are not hard to hear, I generously decided on three stars for the audiobook’s narration.
********************
Priestley’s trip has been retraced by Stuart Maconie. See the recently published The Full English: A Journey in Search of a Country and its People.
May 11, 2014
Pretty marvelous - and I’m surprised it has gone out of print, really (especially in another age of austerity and of depletion of Northern cities).
Firstly, there’s its inescapable value as a piecemeal social document, capturing a time when Coventry was pretty, shop girls were starting to look like film stars and sausages were for breakfast. How little changes too: even in the thirties, pubs are generally bogus Merrie England affairs, culture is mass and trashy (he means cinema), entertainment is transactional, streetscapes are ugly and pretty towns are infested with Ye Olde Tea Shoppes.
It’s actually pretty progressive for all this. There’s no shortage of compassion for the victims of poverty and unemployment, and a real despair about the fate of children. He’s no Orwell, but plenty of what Priestley says about the emasculation of unemployment and low wages, the good people running relief schemes and the misery of bad housing and grime all feel perfectly contemporary. He’s also refreshingly damning about intellectuals who cherish liberties in the UK, while unconcerned for them in the Stalin-run USSR. But then - this being eighty years old - you’ll trip up over a howler about the slovenliness of the Irish poor in Liverpool. So, not all ageless.
The charm of it above all is its intentional and unintentional humour. He’s frank and refreshingly unapologetic about his laziness as a writer - admitting at intervals that he really ought to dwell more on X economic issue or Y sphere of a city’s life, but lunch is on its way. Lunch (and the periodic bad night’s sleep in bad hotels) is an amusing fixation throughout.
He also recognises his limitations as a writer (I love the section where, setting forth his telegraphic notes from some home visits, he admits that this is the closest he’ll get to the celebrated Modernist style).
In spite of this, there are moments of very memorable writing. This superb line, talking of a fish market in Hull: “I only saw a few halibut, but these were of gigantic size, lying there like murdered Roman emperors”.
Humourous too - from a 21st century perspective - at how even in comfortable moments, it’s boiled beef, overheated hotels and pipe smoking. It’s hard not to laugh at a kipper.
He signs off, declaring himself a Little Englander - for he cares for the plight of the people suffering a Depression, wants more of the ‘green and pleasant’ and less of the dark Satanic. Imagine: that’s what ‘Little Englander’ could once mean.
Firstly, there’s its inescapable value as a piecemeal social document, capturing a time when Coventry was pretty, shop girls were starting to look like film stars and sausages were for breakfast. How little changes too: even in the thirties, pubs are generally bogus Merrie England affairs, culture is mass and trashy (he means cinema), entertainment is transactional, streetscapes are ugly and pretty towns are infested with Ye Olde Tea Shoppes.
It’s actually pretty progressive for all this. There’s no shortage of compassion for the victims of poverty and unemployment, and a real despair about the fate of children. He’s no Orwell, but plenty of what Priestley says about the emasculation of unemployment and low wages, the good people running relief schemes and the misery of bad housing and grime all feel perfectly contemporary. He’s also refreshingly damning about intellectuals who cherish liberties in the UK, while unconcerned for them in the Stalin-run USSR. But then - this being eighty years old - you’ll trip up over a howler about the slovenliness of the Irish poor in Liverpool. So, not all ageless.
The charm of it above all is its intentional and unintentional humour. He’s frank and refreshingly unapologetic about his laziness as a writer - admitting at intervals that he really ought to dwell more on X economic issue or Y sphere of a city’s life, but lunch is on its way. Lunch (and the periodic bad night’s sleep in bad hotels) is an amusing fixation throughout.
He also recognises his limitations as a writer (I love the section where, setting forth his telegraphic notes from some home visits, he admits that this is the closest he’ll get to the celebrated Modernist style).
In spite of this, there are moments of very memorable writing. This superb line, talking of a fish market in Hull: “I only saw a few halibut, but these were of gigantic size, lying there like murdered Roman emperors”.
Humourous too - from a 21st century perspective - at how even in comfortable moments, it’s boiled beef, overheated hotels and pipe smoking. It’s hard not to laugh at a kipper.
He signs off, declaring himself a Little Englander - for he cares for the plight of the people suffering a Depression, wants more of the ‘green and pleasant’ and less of the dark Satanic. Imagine: that’s what ‘Little Englander’ could once mean.
May 19, 2024
rediscovering this classic and didn't disappoint, a look at 1930's England and observations whilst the author travels around even discusses his home city Bradford
July 15, 2018
From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
Retracing JB Priestley's footsteps of 1933, poet Lemn Sissay heads south to begin his odyssey around modern England.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009...
Retracing JB Priestley's footsteps of 1933, poet Lemn Sissay heads south to begin his odyssey around modern England.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009...
June 3, 2023
Published in 1933, this is a classic, which sees J.B. Priestley travel from Southampton and around the country, until he arrives back home in London. This is between-the-wars, depression-era England, and Priestley makes sharp social commentary which is often still relevant. So, it is obvious that much of this new, modern world, impressed the author. The coaches with seats he sinks comfortably into, the way so many in the country has benefited from new industries and yet, there is always a 'but.' For example, he visits Birmingham and muses on the cosmopolitan centre but the dinginess on the outskirts. Also, he makes some interesting comments about social distinctions and so there are visit to a whist drive, while bridge is seen as 'posh' and not an option.
Priestley admits to be a bad driver, so mostly he takes a coach or a train, watching the countryside blur past the window. Heading for the potteries, discovering how typewriters are manufactured, visiting cotton mills and also considering the new, emerging entertainments. He is dismissive of Hollywood movies, suggesting that film papers leads to vicarious living through the famous, which is still a very relevant comment. He also visits Blackpool in the off-season, before heading to Blackburn. Visiting those in the rows of houses surrounding the mills, he writes that the inhabitants are, 'all living in luxury according to the Minstry of Health, but they do not seem to realise this.' However, despite his concern over housing and industry, he is also realistic and mentions that, in the past, people escaped rural areas for industrial towns, so accepts that pre-industrial life may not have been as golden as it appeared, despite his love of old crafts.
Obviously, everything that happens now is immediately all over the internet, but Priestley has his own cat-and-mouse game with the press. A flippant remark where he signs a hotel address and puts his address as 'London,' remarking basically that he can be found, results in a flurry of news stories suggesting he is a little pretentious. However, despite this, Priestley manages to ignore those who wish to direct what he sees. He visits towns and cities around the country, aware that England was then - and is now - too centralised at Westminster. Despite his criticisms and concerns though, he is aware of tensions in Europe. 'Some of my friends rage against the absence of liberty in Italy and Germant but quite overlook its absence in Russia,' he states. It is clear that he feels many are taking the freedom of life in England for granted and that he feels it is something worth keeping. Within six years, those in England would be doing just that, defending the way of life in an island which was not perfect, but still a wonderful place to live.
Priestley admits to be a bad driver, so mostly he takes a coach or a train, watching the countryside blur past the window. Heading for the potteries, discovering how typewriters are manufactured, visiting cotton mills and also considering the new, emerging entertainments. He is dismissive of Hollywood movies, suggesting that film papers leads to vicarious living through the famous, which is still a very relevant comment. He also visits Blackpool in the off-season, before heading to Blackburn. Visiting those in the rows of houses surrounding the mills, he writes that the inhabitants are, 'all living in luxury according to the Minstry of Health, but they do not seem to realise this.' However, despite his concern over housing and industry, he is also realistic and mentions that, in the past, people escaped rural areas for industrial towns, so accepts that pre-industrial life may not have been as golden as it appeared, despite his love of old crafts.
Obviously, everything that happens now is immediately all over the internet, but Priestley has his own cat-and-mouse game with the press. A flippant remark where he signs a hotel address and puts his address as 'London,' remarking basically that he can be found, results in a flurry of news stories suggesting he is a little pretentious. However, despite this, Priestley manages to ignore those who wish to direct what he sees. He visits towns and cities around the country, aware that England was then - and is now - too centralised at Westminster. Despite his criticisms and concerns though, he is aware of tensions in Europe. 'Some of my friends rage against the absence of liberty in Italy and Germant but quite overlook its absence in Russia,' he states. It is clear that he feels many are taking the freedom of life in England for granted and that he feels it is something worth keeping. Within six years, those in England would be doing just that, defending the way of life in an island which was not perfect, but still a wonderful place to live.
December 13, 2024
I think this book is brilliant although it's difficult to read at times because JB tended to be a bit gloomy about places.
His approximate itinerary was Southampton, Bristol, Swindon, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Bradford, The Potteries, Lancashire, The North-East around Newcastle, East Durham, Hull, Lincoln, Boston, and Norwich.
I'm from Leicester so I'm always pleased when a book refers to my home city as most travel guides bypass The East Midlands for some reason. He was quite kind about Leicester as he was about most places in the southern part of England.
He doesn't like Bolton, Blackpool, Gateshead, Jarrow, and Shotton because of their depressing nature, but he does make it absolutely clear that it's the fault of the government and of the richer people in English society of the time for not supporting their less well-off fellow countrymen and women.
The important thing to remember is that this is a travelogue and not a travel guide and the author is more interested in the people and the industries that make places tick rather than the sights that can be seen in these places.
The following is from the very end of the book:
"People are beginning to believe that government is a mysterious process with which they have no real concern. This is the soil in which autocracies flourish and liberty dies. Alongside that apathetic majority there will soon be a minority that is tired of seeing nothing vital happen and that will adopt any cause that promises decisive action. There are signs of this already. If that majority does not waken up, it may find, too late, that it has taken, too many good things in English life for granted."
This is from 1934...and also similar to what's happening now.
His approximate itinerary was Southampton, Bristol, Swindon, Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester, Bradford, The Potteries, Lancashire, The North-East around Newcastle, East Durham, Hull, Lincoln, Boston, and Norwich.
I'm from Leicester so I'm always pleased when a book refers to my home city as most travel guides bypass The East Midlands for some reason. He was quite kind about Leicester as he was about most places in the southern part of England.
He doesn't like Bolton, Blackpool, Gateshead, Jarrow, and Shotton because of their depressing nature, but he does make it absolutely clear that it's the fault of the government and of the richer people in English society of the time for not supporting their less well-off fellow countrymen and women.
The important thing to remember is that this is a travelogue and not a travel guide and the author is more interested in the people and the industries that make places tick rather than the sights that can be seen in these places.
The following is from the very end of the book:
"People are beginning to believe that government is a mysterious process with which they have no real concern. This is the soil in which autocracies flourish and liberty dies. Alongside that apathetic majority there will soon be a minority that is tired of seeing nothing vital happen and that will adopt any cause that promises decisive action. There are signs of this already. If that majority does not waken up, it may find, too late, that it has taken, too many good things in English life for granted."
This is from 1934...and also similar to what's happening now.
June 14, 2023
I enjoyed the writing, I was interested in the project of taking a snapshot of England during the Slump, and his perspectives on the post-industrial North that was already being left behind in the 1930's holds up today. (Needs leveling up). But the dollops of xenophobia, racism, and ethnic stereotyping annoyed me -- a serious writer should have known better. And I felt his vision never quite rose above the project. Still, an enjoyable tour and his wonderful portraits of shuttered cotton mills in Lancashire, eccentricity in the Cotswolds, shipping in Southampton and Hull and coal mining in East Durham will stay with me, as will the sense of dingy hotels, the work of provincial playhouses and rain.
July 8, 2024
Priestley is suspicious of old England, appalled by industrial England, and disappointed by postwar England, but he still has a strange affection for it all. I can understand that.
June 9, 2016
J. B. Priestley can be both whimsical and nostalgic in this travelogue of a trip around England. He can also be thoughtful and contemplative, particularly about the less attractive aspects of the country, the factories, dole queues and the plight of the working classes. His viewpoint is broadly socialist, but he strongly supports individualism not organised paternalism.
This is an enjoyable and informative book and Priestley is a persuasive writer. If I have one quibble, it is that I feel he did not have to include so many descriptions of the meals he ate, but it is a minor quibble.
This is an enjoyable and informative book and Priestley is a persuasive writer. If I have one quibble, it is that I feel he did not have to include so many descriptions of the meals he ate, but it is a minor quibble.
July 16, 2016
A big book, an important book. A book I was sure I was going to find enjoyable, but then it side twisted me. I was sure I was going to be guided through England of the depression by a wise and avuncular uncle. Someone who would point out all I needed to know and who would take a kindly if rather forbidding attitude towards things he didn't quite approve of.
I've read An Inspectors Calls and The Good Companions so I thought I had some idea of my man. I was only partly right. The Priestley revealed in this "rambling but truthful account", is not quite as nice as you would think. He'd very likely cause the saucers to rattle at a modern gathering of the socially aware and concerned. In fact, I think he would be a little upset if he didn't.
He paints a picture of three Englands. the first of long historic tradition with everyone in their place from the castle and cathedral down to the cottage and the gate. The second is the industrial mess we made of so much of England for profit in the nineteenth century and have left the problem of what to do with the unwanted workers, the wastelands and the rusting factories. The third is the modern world that he credits to American influence and popular culture.
Eighty years on it is all still there, and at a time of depression, it doesn't seem that much has changed. Wealth rather than breeding determines who plays the squire and who the cottager, but the ancient regime remains. Industry has largely gone but its wastelands are easy to find. Collieries have been converted into supermarkets at a vast rate and chemical plants have become football stadia. The main residue though is the worker. Often third generation unemployed, they have become a soft cottoned jogging suited sub-class. For decades we, as a country, made sure they remained so uneducated that they would accept the monotonous rottenness, often dangerous too, of jobs in mills, foundries and pits. Now we have apparently created a group who are immune and inured against learning as a way out. The third England has become dominant. Trafford, Gateshead, Blue Water, Meadowhall are the temples. Talent shows on commercial television, mimicked by talent shows on our national broadcaster, dominate interest in culture.
So much for the wise observer. He saw, and was able to tell what was important from what isn't, and this is what separates him from most other "beat of the nation" travelogues. He knows his stuff. What of the more difficult to like Priestley. Well, get him on Geordies or Liverpool Irish and I think you'll find views not only intolerant but on the wrong side of offensive.
Oh, and for you English examiners who continue to set questions about how An Inspector Calls reveals Priestley's socialism: please read what the man himself had to say on the subject.
I've read An Inspectors Calls and The Good Companions so I thought I had some idea of my man. I was only partly right. The Priestley revealed in this "rambling but truthful account", is not quite as nice as you would think. He'd very likely cause the saucers to rattle at a modern gathering of the socially aware and concerned. In fact, I think he would be a little upset if he didn't.
He paints a picture of three Englands. the first of long historic tradition with everyone in their place from the castle and cathedral down to the cottage and the gate. The second is the industrial mess we made of so much of England for profit in the nineteenth century and have left the problem of what to do with the unwanted workers, the wastelands and the rusting factories. The third is the modern world that he credits to American influence and popular culture.
Eighty years on it is all still there, and at a time of depression, it doesn't seem that much has changed. Wealth rather than breeding determines who plays the squire and who the cottager, but the ancient regime remains. Industry has largely gone but its wastelands are easy to find. Collieries have been converted into supermarkets at a vast rate and chemical plants have become football stadia. The main residue though is the worker. Often third generation unemployed, they have become a soft cottoned jogging suited sub-class. For decades we, as a country, made sure they remained so uneducated that they would accept the monotonous rottenness, often dangerous too, of jobs in mills, foundries and pits. Now we have apparently created a group who are immune and inured against learning as a way out. The third England has become dominant. Trafford, Gateshead, Blue Water, Meadowhall are the temples. Talent shows on commercial television, mimicked by talent shows on our national broadcaster, dominate interest in culture.
So much for the wise observer. He saw, and was able to tell what was important from what isn't, and this is what separates him from most other "beat of the nation" travelogues. He knows his stuff. What of the more difficult to like Priestley. Well, get him on Geordies or Liverpool Irish and I think you'll find views not only intolerant but on the wrong side of offensive.
Oh, and for you English examiners who continue to set questions about how An Inspector Calls reveals Priestley's socialism: please read what the man himself had to say on the subject.
August 12, 2023
Based on notes made by Priestley while visiting English towns and cities from Southampton to Newcastle (and many in between) in October and November of 1933, in part, to assess the impact of the Great Depression on the economies and populations of these localities. This is not a formal socio-economic study but rather an opportunity for Priestley to comment on the environmental, social and economic conditions that he observes and the various measures being implemented by local governments and charitable groups to alleviate the devastating impacts of environmental degradation, long term unemployment and poverty. Priestley is clearly moved by what he sees and experiences and his comments are the meat of the book - at times critical, occasionally laudatory, invariably thoughtful and as one might expect, always interesting.
March 6, 2014
From wiki - Commissioned by publisher Victor Gollancz to write a study of contemporary England, Priestley recounts his travels around England in 1933. He shares his observations on the social problems he witnesses, and appeals for democratic socialist change. English Journey was an influential work, inspiring George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier,[1:] and "has even been credited with winning the 1945 election for the Labour Party"
Broadcast on:
BBC Radio 7, 2:00pm Monday 24th May 2010
Duration:
30 minutes
Available until:
2:32pm Monday 31st May 2010
Categories:
Factual, Arts, Culture & the Media, Lifestyle & Leisure, Travel
Broadcast on:
BBC Radio 7, 2:00pm Monday 24th May 2010
Duration:
30 minutes
Available until:
2:32pm Monday 31st May 2010
Categories:
Factual, Arts, Culture & the Media, Lifestyle & Leisure, Travel
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2019
Fascinating personal insights into the state of the post-industrial north as he travels there in1933. Priestley talks of social ideas but his sketches of the people he meets are perhaps the most interesting. Very sad in places but very human.
August 10, 2011
just one of those books that you can return to again and again. Written as a travelogue around England in the early 1930's. I love Priestley's style and if some of his ideas and phrases might be dated and indeed some of his concepts are unsettlingly dismissive and offensive about certain strata of english society in 1933 that is not to be particularly surprising, writing as he was in a society quite different from our own and in a country which, between the wars, was still struggling and coming to terms with a dramatically changed landscape in terms of Industry and future development. The whole 'squirearchy ' had been devestated and swept away forever in the trenches so the countryside was struggling to find its new levels and in the cities the poverty and misery of over-crowding and uncertainty of where they were going exacerbated the strains. The danger with reading this sort of work is I can be tempted to retroject my outlook and vision onto that totally different landscape, conveniently forgetting that my vision has been honed and focused in a different educative and social experience. This can result in me judging people harshly, forgetting that were I to have been brought up in another place, at another time, my outlook would be, perhaps, much as theirs. This does not mean we shouldn't criticize and it doesn't mean that we should not use our more ' enlightened ' outlook, where that exists, to move forward but we do need to make sure we read with sympathy, tolerance and understanding
July 31, 2020
3.5 stars
I had mixed feelings about this book.
Whilst the writing is shockingly modern for the time in which it was written, there are glaring sweeping generalizations afoot, and some presumptuous observations on life in the "grim North" (and yes I'm fully aware that the writer comes from said grim North!)
That said, Priestley makes some practical suggestions for the betterment of living, he is canny in his judgements of the people he meets; and his descriptions of cities and areas I know well from my own upbringing are quite enlightening to hear how they've changed so drastically in some ways, and yet have sadly remained the same in others.
An enjoyable read for the most part, but a bit overly lengthy.
I had mixed feelings about this book.
Whilst the writing is shockingly modern for the time in which it was written, there are glaring sweeping generalizations afoot, and some presumptuous observations on life in the "grim North" (and yes I'm fully aware that the writer comes from said grim North!)
That said, Priestley makes some practical suggestions for the betterment of living, he is canny in his judgements of the people he meets; and his descriptions of cities and areas I know well from my own upbringing are quite enlightening to hear how they've changed so drastically in some ways, and yet have sadly remained the same in others.
An enjoyable read for the most part, but a bit overly lengthy.
February 15, 2021
J.B. Priestley’s dating profile:
Likes: The Cotswolds, Bradford, Hull, Lincoln, Norwich, repertory theatre, motor-coaches, smoking a pipe.
Dislikes: Lancashire (not as good as Yorkshire), the north east, the midlands (“a dustbin fire”), Nottingham’s Goose Fair (“sordid”), the suburbs, communists, capitalists, the Irish, the cinema.
WLTM: Decent, respectable, socialist English lady who doesn’t wear too much make up, cleans her house regularly, doesn’t have a Geordie accent (“ugly”), isn’t influenced by Hollywood starlets.
Likes: The Cotswolds, Bradford, Hull, Lincoln, Norwich, repertory theatre, motor-coaches, smoking a pipe.
Dislikes: Lancashire (not as good as Yorkshire), the north east, the midlands (“a dustbin fire”), Nottingham’s Goose Fair (“sordid”), the suburbs, communists, capitalists, the Irish, the cinema.
WLTM: Decent, respectable, socialist English lady who doesn’t wear too much make up, cleans her house regularly, doesn’t have a Geordie accent (“ugly”), isn’t influenced by Hollywood starlets.
December 22, 2017
I've had this book on my shelves for quite a while and I finally got around to reading it whilst on holiday earlier this year. What a fascinating insight into times that are really not so terribly long ago but yet so very different from my own personal experiences. I've always loved Priestley for his attention to detail, his very apt interpretation of what he sees and hears. I've always loved Priestley for his ability to use so few words to convey so much.
June 16, 2011
A wonderful non-fiction book, Priestley's journey around England in the autumn of 1933. He gets under the skin of each places he visits showing up the desperate plight of the British working man in the north. This is not however a grim book there is also much humour, we not only get a taste of the real England of the early 1930's but we also learn more about the book's irascible author.
August 9, 2020
As relevant today as it was in 1934. Whilst sharing a similar patriotic spirit, I regret that many of the challenges posed in this text are still profoundly true in our society 86 years later -
A must read for anyone who claims to be dissatisfied with the state as it is.
A must read for anyone who claims to be dissatisfied with the state as it is.
October 21, 2022
England was very bleak in the 1930’s.
June 30, 2023
Sometimes a particular book keeps coming to your attention from different directions and you know that you will have to read it. This was the case with J. B. Priestley's English Journey - in fact I'd bought a copy before I even realised that it was the inspiration for the latest title from my favourite current English travel(ish) writer, Stuart Maconie.
Priestley made a journey around parts of England in 1933 - not the pretty bits (apart from the Cotswolds) but more what back then were thought of as that derogatory feeling location 'the provinces'. Priestley was an odd mix for the period - a London literary type, but one from Bradford who still considered being northern a positive. What he is without doubt superb on is uncovering the social conditions of the time. Unlike Orwell's attempt, which feels a bit like someone looking at an alien species through a microscope, this is a picture of the common people by someone who identified personally with their plight (although he can still come across as a touch snobbish).
One piece of information he gives really struck home. While visiting Bournville, the Cadbury family's model living space in the West Midlands, he notes (while pondering whether or not such a pleasant but controlling environment is a good thing) that infant mortality is lower than the average 69 per thousand live births in England and Wales. Compare that with the current value of 3.7 and you really realise that, despite all our moans, things are a lot better now than they were in the 1930s.
On a less important, but quite interesting, level I found it remarkable that Priestley was using the word ‘robot’ repeatedly only 10 years or so after it appeared in English. It seems to have become very rapidly (for a time with slower communications) embedded as a term that doesn't need explaining. It did also strike me that it was a shame that he chose to make the journey in late autumn/early winter when, to be honest, the weather ensures that few places in England are at their best - he even admits to seeing places differently when it's a rare sunny day.
The greatness of this as a travel book is that it is a portrait not of places, but of the English people, specifically the English working class. Is it sexist? Certainly - it is of its time, though Priestley does at least celebrate the character of women, particularly Lancastrian women. But his genuine sympathy with the plight of so many people whose home town’s reason for existing was an industry that hardly existed anymore is remarkable. It’s also the case that his plea for the left behind of the industrial North is horrendously still an issue 90 years later. Just as Priestley bemoans the way the south east's wealth has been made on the backs of those now discarded workers so we can see the appeal of levelling up… and exactly the same inability to make it happen as was the case then.
To make a slight personal moan as an inhabitant of Swindon, which is one of the places he visits, it's about the only place dominated by an industry (in Swindon's case, the railway works) where he simply complains that it's not a very nice place to be in, but doesn't bother to visit the workplace as he does practically everywhere else, nor does he really engage with the people. Swindon's main role in the book seems to be to provide a contrast with Bristol and the Cotswolds, which was a little mean of him.
I can see why so many people enthuse about this book. It has its faults. Apart from those already mentioned, it is, frankly, significantly too long and spends too much time making any particular point and then re-making at some length. Priestley's style can be a little heavy going to the modern reader. But the fact remains that this a landmark book, which shows just how long levelling up the country has been an issue that successive governments have failed to address.
Priestley made a journey around parts of England in 1933 - not the pretty bits (apart from the Cotswolds) but more what back then were thought of as that derogatory feeling location 'the provinces'. Priestley was an odd mix for the period - a London literary type, but one from Bradford who still considered being northern a positive. What he is without doubt superb on is uncovering the social conditions of the time. Unlike Orwell's attempt, which feels a bit like someone looking at an alien species through a microscope, this is a picture of the common people by someone who identified personally with their plight (although he can still come across as a touch snobbish).
One piece of information he gives really struck home. While visiting Bournville, the Cadbury family's model living space in the West Midlands, he notes (while pondering whether or not such a pleasant but controlling environment is a good thing) that infant mortality is lower than the average 69 per thousand live births in England and Wales. Compare that with the current value of 3.7 and you really realise that, despite all our moans, things are a lot better now than they were in the 1930s.
On a less important, but quite interesting, level I found it remarkable that Priestley was using the word ‘robot’ repeatedly only 10 years or so after it appeared in English. It seems to have become very rapidly (for a time with slower communications) embedded as a term that doesn't need explaining. It did also strike me that it was a shame that he chose to make the journey in late autumn/early winter when, to be honest, the weather ensures that few places in England are at their best - he even admits to seeing places differently when it's a rare sunny day.
The greatness of this as a travel book is that it is a portrait not of places, but of the English people, specifically the English working class. Is it sexist? Certainly - it is of its time, though Priestley does at least celebrate the character of women, particularly Lancastrian women. But his genuine sympathy with the plight of so many people whose home town’s reason for existing was an industry that hardly existed anymore is remarkable. It’s also the case that his plea for the left behind of the industrial North is horrendously still an issue 90 years later. Just as Priestley bemoans the way the south east's wealth has been made on the backs of those now discarded workers so we can see the appeal of levelling up… and exactly the same inability to make it happen as was the case then.
To make a slight personal moan as an inhabitant of Swindon, which is one of the places he visits, it's about the only place dominated by an industry (in Swindon's case, the railway works) where he simply complains that it's not a very nice place to be in, but doesn't bother to visit the workplace as he does practically everywhere else, nor does he really engage with the people. Swindon's main role in the book seems to be to provide a contrast with Bristol and the Cotswolds, which was a little mean of him.
I can see why so many people enthuse about this book. It has its faults. Apart from those already mentioned, it is, frankly, significantly too long and spends too much time making any particular point and then re-making at some length. Priestley's style can be a little heavy going to the modern reader. But the fact remains that this a landmark book, which shows just how long levelling up the country has been an issue that successive governments have failed to address.
August 7, 2024
If u like verbal diarrhoea then this is for you. The book starts off ok but gets very repetitive and more and more gloomy. The further north he travels the grimmer the ttale and even though he is a northerner he doesn’t try and dress up the northern cities.
Some of the points he shows are still relevant today such as decentralisation of government . Unfortunately a lot of the north has not changed and the only way to do d st on maybe to completely flatten places like Leeds and Bradford and start again.
Being a southerner I found the chapters on Swindon Bristol and the Cotswolds the most interesting. The Cotswolds hadn’t changed and Swindon is such a boring place considering it was so successful at building steam engines. Hardly a single theatre in sight. Bristol seems to get the authors thumbs up as being the most majestic city having kept its civic pride and dignity. As for Southampton I agree with him it’s such a disappointment considering it’s the gateway to Britain and the entrance for so many glorious ships of the time.
In summary a gloomy walk through gloomy Britain by a man who likes to waffle and fits the time the book was written. If u want a modern up date read Louis Thoreaux walk around Britain which is just as bad.
Some of the points he shows are still relevant today such as decentralisation of government . Unfortunately a lot of the north has not changed and the only way to do d st on maybe to completely flatten places like Leeds and Bradford and start again.
Being a southerner I found the chapters on Swindon Bristol and the Cotswolds the most interesting. The Cotswolds hadn’t changed and Swindon is such a boring place considering it was so successful at building steam engines. Hardly a single theatre in sight. Bristol seems to get the authors thumbs up as being the most majestic city having kept its civic pride and dignity. As for Southampton I agree with him it’s such a disappointment considering it’s the gateway to Britain and the entrance for so many glorious ships of the time.
In summary a gloomy walk through gloomy Britain by a man who likes to waffle and fits the time the book was written. If u want a modern up date read Louis Thoreaux walk around Britain which is just as bad.
April 27, 2023
If someone granted me 3 wishes right now I would use one of them to bring JB Priestly back to life so he could conduct an English journey 2023. How fascinating it would be to see him describe the change in England over the past one hundred years. How fascinating that some of the things he blamed for certain states of affairs back then are what we are still blaming for problems now (old men!). It’s important to understand this is an historical piece and some of the terms and ways of speaking he used would not be acceptable today but I am equally sure he would have been an early adopter of more equitable ways of using language had he still been alive. I listened to this as a newly released audiobook which was well read. The northern (English) accent certainly gave the narration character and a working-class down-to-earth air that might influence the way the writing is perceived. I enjoyed visiting the cities through his words, especially my home town which was one that he favoured.
June 1, 2020
This book describes a journey through England in the early 1930s. Although the author is prone to "rants" about various topics, his descriptions are interesting and manage to capture some of the flavour of the time and places. I was struck by the relevance even today of some of the things he talks about, despite the nearly 90 years that have passed since that trip: globalization, the international arms race, pollution, technology, inequality, governmental incompetence...with a little editing it could be rewritten for today's world.
When Priestley wrote this book, World War II was still more than half a decade away. The "wireless" was the main source of entertainment at home, and talking films were still fairly new. This glimpse into that vanished world shows us how far we've come, but also, how little some things have changed.
When Priestley wrote this book, World War II was still more than half a decade away. The "wireless" was the main source of entertainment at home, and talking films were still fairly new. This glimpse into that vanished world shows us how far we've come, but also, how little some things have changed.
January 12, 2020
A very inspiring book.
Priestley is quite straightforward and honest about the wrongs he sees in his beloved England.
He can be lyrical about Hull or Lincoln but more often he is sadly pessimistic and angry about unemployment and the slump in shipbuilding, cotton and wool trade and the awfully ugly towns in the north.
It is also a severe attack on the City of London or rather the government and the very well-to -do who have made their money over the backs of the working class.
Although at times it is clear that his mood of the day colours his vision somewhat and his outbursts are at times repetitive the book is still very readable although it was written in 1933.
I feel it is a pity that I let it rest in my bookcase unread since 1977.
Priestley is quite straightforward and honest about the wrongs he sees in his beloved England.
He can be lyrical about Hull or Lincoln but more often he is sadly pessimistic and angry about unemployment and the slump in shipbuilding, cotton and wool trade and the awfully ugly towns in the north.
It is also a severe attack on the City of London or rather the government and the very well-to -do who have made their money over the backs of the working class.
Although at times it is clear that his mood of the day colours his vision somewhat and his outbursts are at times repetitive the book is still very readable although it was written in 1933.
I feel it is a pity that I let it rest in my bookcase unread since 1977.
Read
February 29, 2024Not so ‘Jolly Jack’
Priestley’s racist comments in the book on the Irish in Britain are disgusting.
“A great many speeches have been made and books written on the subject of what England has done to Ireland... I should be interested to hear a speech and read a book or two on the subject of what Ireland has done to England... if we do have an Irish Republic as our neighbour, and it is found possible to return her exiled citizens, what a grand clearance there will be in all the western ports, from the Clyde to Cardiff, what a fine exit of ignorance and dirt and drunkenness and disease."
This is glossed over by most commentators. I have no idea why. I was enjoying the book until I came across these upsetting words.
Priestley’s racist comments in the book on the Irish in Britain are disgusting.
“A great many speeches have been made and books written on the subject of what England has done to Ireland... I should be interested to hear a speech and read a book or two on the subject of what Ireland has done to England... if we do have an Irish Republic as our neighbour, and it is found possible to return her exiled citizens, what a grand clearance there will be in all the western ports, from the Clyde to Cardiff, what a fine exit of ignorance and dirt and drunkenness and disease."
This is glossed over by most commentators. I have no idea why. I was enjoying the book until I came across these upsetting words.
August 1, 2024
Having read and enjoyed a number of Priestley’s novels over the years, I wasn’t aware of English Journey until I read Stuart Maconie’s retracing of it in 2021. Maconie’s book is a good read, Priestley’s is superb. In many ways it’s a rambling book, but its rambling nature gives it its charm. There are many stunning passages in it. I especially enjoyed his visit to the Birmingham whist drive and nonconformist church. Gollancz commissioned Priestley to write ‘English Journey’ two years before he commissioned Orwell to write ‘The Road to Wigan Pier’. Given the quality and, albeit rather different, power of these books, it seems strange that the latter seems to be so much better known than the former.
August 25, 2024
There's a lot to love about this book. Reading it in the 21st century it can appear as incredibly prescient in predicting how things will turn out. At the same time, it's a brilliant, critical commentary on the inequality of society. Add to that some wonderful descriptions of towns and cities across the country and you wonder what else you could want. Well . . . a couple of hundred pages fewer, for sure. There is a relentlessness to Priestley's prose that doesn't always work. If you compare this to the precision of Orwell's writing in "Down and Out in Paris and London" you'll see the difference between a sledgehammer and a scalpel. Priestley beats his points to a pulp, so that even while you're agreeing with him there's a part of you that says "move on - literally".
September 2, 2022
Though written in 1933, so much of it is still relevant today. An example would be in the final chapter where he talks about the differences between the North and the South, and how nothing is being done to improve the lot of the former. Does this remind anyone else of Boris’s Red Wall levelling up, where little has been achieved? There were other examples such as whether we should sell weapons (or trench excavators in this book) that could be used against us in a war.
Parts of the book were enthusiastic e.g. Bristol, parts were depressing e.g. the North East, parts were really upsetting e.g. Seaham, but overall this book was a joy to read.
Parts of the book were enthusiastic e.g. Bristol, parts were depressing e.g. the North East, parts were really upsetting e.g. Seaham, but overall this book was a joy to read.
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