Before the Oil Ran Out: Britain 1977-86

History

Jack, Ian

Europe

HarperCollins, Publishers

In this selection from more than 20 years of reporting and writing, Ian Jack takes us to a place of which there are now only memories and ruins—the Great Britain that gave us the Industrial Revolution, a nation that led the world in feats of engineering, a Britain of empire, a place of vital cities, each with their own unique identity, and a country whose residual presence can still be found in the strangest corners of the world. These pieces set out to deal with contemporary Britain—national disasters, football matches, obesity, etc.—but are drawn back in time, vexed by the question of what came before. In "Women and Children First," watching the film Titanic leads to an investigation into the legend of Wallace Henry Hartley, the famous band leader of the doomed liner, and a journey into the Lancashire mill towns of the early twentieth century; "The 12:10 to Leeds," a magnificent report on the Hatfield rail crash, begins its hunt for clues in the eighteenth century in the search for those responsible. We travel further afield, finding vestiges of a vanished Britain in the Indian Subcontinent. Here we meet characters like the maverick English missionary, scientist and linguist William Carey, credited with importing India's first steam engine, or Mr. Goonawardene, a wise lunatic who spends his days at Colombo railway station—men whose stories are only possible because of the British empire. This wonderful collection brings together Ian Jack's most important and brilliant pieces. Full of the style, knowledge, and intimacy that make his work so special, they are the perfect introduction to the work of one of the country's finest writers, as well as the country that gave him his voice.

The Country Formerly Known as Great Britain: Writings 1989–2009

Vintage, UK

BEFORE THE OIL RAN OUT

Biographies & Memoirs

For more than a decade, Granta has spanned the globe in the diversity of its writers, in the breadth of talent it displays, and in its expansive coverage of important issues. In this new isue, Allan Garganus, Susan Swan, Tony Gould, Blake Morrison, Joy Williams and other writers explore the theme of "Children" in outstanding pieces of fiction, memoirs and more.

Granta 55: Children: Blind, Bitter Happiness (Autumn 1996)

Literature & Fiction

Classics

Granta Publications

English Literature, 1815-1832 (Oxford History of English Literature)

British & Irish

Oxford University Press

Hardback, ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, in fair all round condition suitable as a study copy.

Keats and the Mirror of Art

Clarendon P.

xii 643p original cloth with dustjacket, first edition, no name, very nice copy, excellent

English Literature, 1815-1832

This book is intended for students of English literature at A' level and above; general readers interested in a complete history of literature from Middle English to the earlier twentieth century.

English Literature 1815-1832: Scott, Byron, and Keats (Oxford History of English Literature)

Clarendon Press

In this selection from over twenty years of reporting and writing, Ian Jack takes us to a place of which there are now only memories and ruins—the Great Britain that gave us the Industrial Revolution, a nation that led the world in feats of engineering, a Britain of empire, a place of vital cities, each with their own unique identity, and a country whose residual presence can still be found in the strangest corners of the world. These pieces set out to deal with contemporary Britain—national disasters, football matches, obesity, etc.—but are drawn back in time, vexed by the question of what came before. In "Women and Children First," watching the film Titanic leads to an investigation into the legend of Wallace Henry Hartley, the famous band leader of the doomed liner, and a journey into the Lancashire mill towns of the early twentieth century; "The 12:10 to Leeds," a magnificent report on the Hatfield rail crash, begins its hunt for clues in the eighteenth century in the search for those responsible. We travel further afield, finding vestiges of a vanished Britain in the Indian Subcontinent. Here we meet characters like the maverick English missionary, scientist and linguist William Carey, credited with importing India's first steam engine, or Mr. Goonawardene, a wise lunatic who spends his days at Colombo railway station—men whose stories are only possible because of the British empire. This wonderful collection brings together Ian Jack's most important and brilliant pieces. Full of the style, knowledge, and intimacy that make his work so special, they are the perfect introduction to the work of one of the country's finest writers, as well as the country that gave him his voice.

The Country Formerly Known as Great Britain

RANDOM HOUSE UK

Australia's Age of Iron started in the 1840s when the first attempts were made to reduce Australia's dependence on Britain for imported iron. Australian iron ore was abundant and of good quality, but Australia still had difficulties in competing with cheaper imports. Ian Jack and Aedeen Cremin analyze Australia's efforts to smelt iron efficiently and examine in detail the physical remains of those pioneering ventures. Based on a decade of archival research and field work, the study brings together little-known source material and places it in broad historical context.

Australia's Age of Iron: History and Archaelogy

Business & Money

Cremin, Aedeen

Economics

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