A ‘brat’ summer for both America and Britain?
In the US, Kamala Harris has infused new political energy into a tired, intensely toxic conversation. In the UK, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is said to be governing with both seriousness and purpose. Excerpts from This Week, Those Books on how both countries are reaping the promise of the Fourth of July. Sign up at https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/ and get the post and podcast the day it drops
Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story.
Would you rather listen? You can find our podcast above.
In our second year, a big thank you to our community of more than 10,000 subscribers in 114 countries.
Click here for a specially unlocked free-to-read post from the archives — it has the three brilliant books featured here last year for America’s July 4 birthday. Funny to think, but it was only the fourth edition of This Week, Those Books!
– Rashmee
The Big Story:
The UK had its first post-Brexit general election on July 4, which some Americans might think a bit unfair as they feel a special claim to the date.
This July 4, the Glorious Fourth, was America’s 248th birthday. On that day in 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, announcing the colonies’ separation from Great Britain.1
Some in the UK claim this July 4 also signifies freedom for them — from 14 years of Conservative Party rule!
Whatever happens, it’s unlikely any timeline of historical events will ever list July 4 as UK Independence Day!
But here’s something that’s common for both Britain and America this July 4: Nostalgia as a political force. The UK’s populist, right-wing Reform Party is run by Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage, who says a crackdown on immigrants will help bring back the good old days. And Donald Trump’s most famous slogan is: Make America great again. Farage, incidentally, is a Trump ally and admirer.
Away from the political right though, the story of a country, its culture and comestibles can make for a delightful read. So, here are two sets of books — from either side of the Atlantic — which convey a certain idea of Britain and America, as they once were.
This Week, Those Books:
Muggety pie and other treats from the grand old lady of English food and folklore.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction about how America was built.
Food in England: A Complete Guide to the Food that Makes us Who We Are
By: Dorothy Hartley
Publisher: McDonald
Year: 1954
The Land of England: English Country Customs Through the Ages
By: Dorothy Hartley
Publisher: MacDonald and Jane’s
Year: 1979
My rating: Engaging
Welsh food writer, photographer and illustrator Dorothy Hartley was born in the late 19th century. Travelling through Britain, she found and documented disappearing aspects of English life — recipes, customs and folklore — for her weekly newspaper column. Though Hartley wasn’t trained as a historian, her life’s work — covering six centuries of English history — testifies to her passion for chronicling everyday life in England before industrialisation and mechanisation changed everything beyond recognition.
Food in England rejoices in chestnut roasters…
The Awakening Land
By: Conrad Richter
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Year: 1966
My rating: A masterpiece
This is a trilogy of novels — The Trees, The Farm, The Town — which follows the Luckett family as they leave Pennsylvania for the virgin forests of Ohio some 20 years after the founding of the United States. They are a pioneer family in what was then called the Northwest Territory and gradually the Lucketts build a home and a community that would become the town of Americus, Ohio. Richter conveys images that have become part of the American myth…
The Backstory:
The politics of nostalgia in 21st century Britain and America draws a contrast between a virtuous past and a degenerate present. As essayist Marcel Proust said, “The only paradise is paradise lost”.
Research has shown that the political right’s nostalgia is based on…
I hope you find This Week, Those Books useful, thoughtful, and…a conversation starter. It’s a small operation here at TWTB, and support from readers like you helps keep this news literacy project going.
Email thisweekthosebooks@substack.com to say ‘hi’. Or connect with me on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Threads
Ready for another read? Get smarter, faster about America’s 247th birthday
Originally published at This Week, Those Books
