Please note: In order to keep Hive up to date and provide users with the best features, we are no longer able to fully support Internet Explorer. The site is still available to you, however some sections of the site may appear broken. We would encourage you to move to a more modern browser like Firefox, Edge or Chrome in order to experience the site fully.

Supporting your high street Find out how »
Portillo's Hidden History of Britain, Hardback Book

Portillo's Hidden History of Britain Hardback

Hardback

Out of Stock - We are unable to provide an estimated availability date for this product

Description

Discover the hidden history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings. Portillo's Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings.

The chapters cover a variety of historical themes: Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, Defence and Warfare, and Entertainment and Leisure.

Using a combination of his own investigations and archive research, plus memories and quotations from the contributors he interviewed for the series, Michael Portillo explains what the buildings were used for and by whom, why they were abandoned, and what they can tell us about our past.

For example:* Learn what the ruins of London Road Fire and Police Station in Manchester reveal about the history of the emergency services in the last 100 years* How Bradford's art deco Odeon cinema encapsulates a century of film-making and movie-going With evocative text that brings each location vividly to life, Michael Portillo describes the building and its activities in its heyday and compares this past life with its faded grandeur or melancholic abandonment seen today.

Filled with fascinating insights and observations, his narrative provides a compelling and original perspective on Britain's social and military history.

Portillo's Hidden History of Britain features deserted villages, abandoned prisons, closed-down cinemas, empty hospitals, derelict military bases, sewers and much more.

Complementing the text are 32 pages of atmospheric and informative photographs, including 'then' and 'now' images of the locations, which pointedly juxtapose their former glory with their present-day destitution.

Information

Other Formats

Save 12%

£20.00

£17.59

Out of Stock - We are unable to provide an estimated availability date for this product
Add to Basket
Sign in to add to wishlist
 
Free Home Delivery

on all orders

 
Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Information