Common People: The History of An English Family - Hardcover

Light, Alison

3.89

288 ratings by Goodreads

9781905490387: Common People: The History of An English Family

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905490380 ISBN 13: 9781905490387

Publisher: Fig Tree, 2014

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Shortlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize

'A remarkable achievement...should become a classic.' - Margaret Drabble

'Light writes beautifully...Common People is part memoir, part thrilling social history of the England of the Industrial Revolution, but above all a work of quiet poetry and insight into human behaviour. It is full of wisdom.' - The Times Book of the Week

Family history is a massive phenomenon of our times but what are we after when we go in search of our ancestors? Beginning with her grandparents, Alison Light moves between the present and the past, in an extraordinary series of journeys over two centuries, across Britain and beyond.

Epic in scope and deep in feeling, Common People is a family history but also a new kind of public history, following the lives of the migrants who travelled the country looking for work. Original and eloquent, it is a timely rethinking of who the English were - but ultimately it reflects on history itself, and on our constant need to know who went before us and what we owe them.

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Review:

An exploration of an English family tree the like of which has never been made before. (Claire Tomalin)

[A] short and beautifully written meditation on family and mobility. (the Independent)

Light writes beautifully. With such colour and with perception and lyricism she clads the past....Common People is part memoir, part thrilling social history of the England of the Industrial Revolution, but above all a work of quiet poetry and insight into human behaviour. It is full of wisdom. (Melanie Reid The Times Book of the Week)

Intellectually sound and relevant...a refreshingly modern way of thinking about our past. (New Statesman)

This book is a substantial achievement: its combination of scholarship and intelligence is, you may well think, the best monument you could have to all those she has rescued from time's oblivion. (Financial Times)

Light [is skilled] in probing dark corners of her ancestry and exposing their historical meaning...packed with humanity. (Sunday Times)

Exquisite...Barely a page goes by without something fascinating on it, betraying Light's skill in winkling out the most relevant or moving aspects of her antecedents' lives, which echo through the generations. (the Independent on Sunday)

Evocatively written...a thrilling and unnerving read (The Observer)

Intelligent...admirably organised...deeply absorbing. (The Spectator)

Alison Light's excellent and humane exploration of her family tree...confirms her as the pre-eminent exponent of a new kind of public family history. (Evening Standard)

From the Back Cover:

The History of an English Family (bold type)

'Outstanding. A masterclass in how family history can illuminate our communal past. Dirty, tragic but joyous' Mail on Sunday

'Excellent. A deeply researched and fascinating double story: an elegy for lives usually beneath notice but also an objective record of what it meant to be itinerant working class through two centuries of change' Sunday Telegraph

'An exquisite look back at Light's own family history. Barely a page goes by without something fascinating on it' Independent on Sunday

'Deeply absorbing. Light does an excellent job of conjuring up the fascinating squalor of the docks, the beer shops and brothels and the adventure of the sea. I'll want to read it twice' Spectator

'Remarkable, haunting. Light writes beautifully. Part-memoir, part thrilling social history of the England of the Industrial Revolution, but above all a work of quiet poetry and insight into human behavior. It is full of wisdom' The Times

'By turns mesmeric and deeply moving: a poetic excavation of the very meaning of history' Daily Telegraph

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