The Official History of Britain
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The Official History of Britain by Boris Starling
‘Entertaining and absorbing’ – The Sunday Times A wonderfully written and entertaining book which places Britain under the microscope and asks who we are today and how we’ve changed as a nation. In 1841 there were 734 female midwives working in Britain, along with 9 artificial eye makers, 20 peg makers, 6 stamp makers and 1 bee dealer. Fast forward nearly two centuries and there are 51,000 midwives working in the UK and not an eye maker in sight! For the past two centuries, through the Census and national surveys, the Office for National Statistics and its predecessors have charted the lives of the British: our jobs, home lives and strange cultural habits. With questions on occupation, housing, religion, travel and family, the Census findings have informed the economy, politics, and every other national matter. Its collected data forms the single most valuable ongoing historical resource of modern times. Now, for the first time ever, The Official History of Britain collects these findings into a wonderfully written and entertaining book by Boris Starling and assisted by the ONS’ statistical advisor, David Bradbury. Delving deep into statistics surrounding our occupations, our working lives, relationships; our quirks, habits, weird interests and cultural beliefs, and, of course, the latest findings on the Covid-19 pandemic, The Official History of Britain places Britain under the microscope and asks who we are and how we’ve changed as a nation.'This book feels like an early stocking fillerIt is entertaining and absorbing… the statistical detail can be illuminating.’ The Sunday Times
‘A statistical history of Britain fit for the census year…short, readable and rigorous.’ The Financial Times
Boris Starling is an award-winning author, screenwriter and journalist who, with this book, has finally put his history degree of 30 years ago to good use. He is a Sunday Times top 10 bestseller for both fiction and non-fiction, and his first novel Messiah was adapted into a BBC series which ran for five seasons. He is also the author of the popular Haynes Explains series and writes regularly for several national newspapers. He lives in Dorset with his wife, children, greyhounds and chickens.
David Bradbury, who assisted Boris with this book, is a long-serving senior media relations officer for the Office for National Statistics. He too studied history at university and edited the award-winning Statlas UK: a Statistical Atlas of the UK for the Central of Information and the Ordnance Survey, before joining the ONS soon after it was established. He divides his time between London and Oxford.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780008412197 |
| ISBN 10 | 0008412197 |
| Title | The Official History of Britain |
| Author | Boris Starling |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding type | Hardback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Year published | 2020-10-15 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |