Green and Pleasant Land (Channel 4 History) Book

Accompanying a 1999 British television series, Green and Pleasant Land provides a rounded and unsentimental view of a world of the lowest wages, a world not without protests and clashes with the law and where, between the wars, a quarter of a million men were forced to leave employment on the land. Consisting of first-hand accounts by country people, mostly born in the 1900s to the 1920s, Green and Pleasant Land has been compiled by writers experienced in social history research and television production. From the stories of over 1,500 men and women about 50 were selected to contribute to the book and television series. Grouped thematically, the stories are illustrated with evocative photographs and prefixed by compact introductions providing relevant historical background. Candid, sometimes intimate and even shocking, the voices of the interviewees reveal hardship and brutality tempered by the dignity of people who felt a close affinity with livestock and the land. The book gains a real spark from the variety of views and experiences expressed, which are sometimes contrasting. For a general audience, it is fascinating and immensely readable, but historians and educators should also value Green and Pleasant Land as a record of oral history. With farming and rural issues very much in the current political arena, this book also has immediate relevance. --Karen TileyRead More