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England
- Seven Myths That Changed a Country – and How to Set Them Straight
- Narrated by: James Bartlett
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
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Summary
Tom Baldwin and Marc Stears take on seven myths that distort our ideas of England and where the country is heading.
‘Challenging, forensic, compelling' Sathnam Sanghera
'Wonderfully evocative descriptions of English places, English identities and the myths that cling to them' Matthew Parris
‘This iconoclastic masterpiece is well argued and beautifully written. A thoroughly entertaining read' Alan Johnson
In an election year when this country stands on the cusp of a change in government, there will once again be efforts to over-inflate myths about England that block out what's important in our politics.
Some politicians will talk of restoring an English birthright of liberty or the swashbuckling self-confidence to rule the waves. Others will yearn for the old-fashioned morality with which, they claim, England once civilised a savage world. Still will more look inwards to a story of an enchanted island that can stand alone and isolated against the world.
In England, Tom Baldwin, bestselling biographer of Keir Starmer, and Marc Stears, influential think tank head, unravel seven myths that have distorted ideas of this country and provided ammunition for charlatans or culture warriors from both left and right.
Instead of vainly promising to solve everything all at once, Baldwin and Stears provide clues for how a humbler, less grandiose, set of ideas rooted in real lives can help fix some of the things that have gone so badly wrong in recent years.
They travel from muddy fields in the Home Counties to the ports of Plymouth and Hull. They visit the old industrial heartland of Wolverhampton, spend weekends in the worn-down seaside resort of Blackpool, then gaze up the gleaming towers of modernity on the edge of London and the dreaming spires of Oxford. Along the way, they speak with many different people who tell stories of England, including politicians Nigel Farage and David Lammy, campaigner Chrisann Jarrett, playwright James Graham and scientist Sarah Gilbert.
What emerges is a startlingly fresh and vivid picture of a country that belongs to everyone, or at least, to no one in particular.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-05-24
Great book terrible narration
This is a really fascinating book but I have had to stop listening to it because the terrible narration has finally got to me. I appreciate that narration is a difficult skill but so many even ordinary words are mispronounced. I can’t understand how this could have got through even the most basic editorial process. I have listened to many audiobooks and this is by far the poorest rendition. Such a shame.
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- FailedTheTuringTest
- 01-05-24
Interesting exploration of 'founding myths' spoiled by poor reading
The exploration of some of the founding myths of England is fascinating and i bought this after hearing some very interesting interviews with the authors. If only the authors had recorded the audio version! The performance here is awful - many words grievously mispronounced and the rhythm at times making it clear that the reader doesn't understand the text. I began to suspect that this was read by one of the new generation of computer voices, rather than by a person.
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- Sam Owen
- 01-05-24
Terrible narration
The theme and story of this book was potentially of huge interest to me, but the narration is insanely bad so unfortunately I’ve had to abandon it (that’s the first time that’s happened in over 250 audio books)
There are so many words poorly pronounced and the intonation is all over the place. I’m pretty sure this is done by bad AI - should come with a warning.
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