Speak for England - An Essay on England 1900-1975 - Based on Interviews with Inhabitants of Wigton, Cumberland

Coronet books 1978

At the turn of the century Wigton in Cumberland was a smallish town, in part agricultural, in part industrial. Today it occupies much the same area, but in other ways it has greatly changed. It is the main theme of this wonderful sociological study, completely revised for this edition, that these changes have been substantially for the better and that they typify what has been happening all over England in the past `three score years and ten.' Speak for England is told in a wide variety of interviews with people of all ages and stations in life - interviews made more convincing and often poignant by the fact that Bragg was born and bred in the town. In this panoramic book, Bragg covers every aspect of English life. The people speak for themselves, and his pages are peopled with miners, farmers, dog breeders, pigeon fanciers, councillors, school teachers, factory workers, housewives and shopkeepers. They come vividly to life and speak both for themselves and for millions of their fellow countrymen...