{"product_id":"clubland-a-radio-4-book-of-the-week","title":"Clubland: A Radio 4 Book of the Week","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe untold story of a British institution \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Brilliant.' Alan Johnson\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'Compelling.' David Kynaston\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'The beer drinkers' Bill Bryson.' Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFerment Magazine's Best Beer Book of the Year\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003ePete Brown is a convivial guide on this journey through the intoxicating history of the working men's clubs. From the movement's founding by teetotaller social reformer the Reverend Henry Solly to the booze-soaked mid-century heyday, when more than 7 million Brits were members, this warm-hearted and entertaining book reveals how and why the clubs became the cornerstone of Britain's social life - offering much more than cheap Federation Bitter and chicken in a basket.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOften dismissed as relics of a bygone age - bastions of bigotry and racism - Brown reminds us that long before the days of Phoenix Nights, 3,000-seat venues routinely played host to stars like Shirley Bassey, Louis Armstrong, and the Bee Gees, offering entertainment for all the family, and close to home at that. Britain's best-known comedians made reputations through a thick miasma of smoke, from Sunniside to Skegness. For a young man growing up in the pit town of Barnsley this was a radiant wonderland that transformed those who entered.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBrown explores the clubs' role in defining masculinity, community and class identity for generations of men in Britain's industrial towns. They were, at their best, a vehicle for social mobility and self-improvement, run as cooperatives for working people by working people: an informal, community-owned pre-cursor to the Welfare State.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs the movement approaches its 160th anniversary, this exuberant book brings to life the thrills and the spills of a cultural phenomenon that might still be rescued from irrelevance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"sb-details\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 289\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e HarperNorth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9780008457549\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Brown, Pete","offers":[{"title":"Standard Secondhand — £754.80","offer_id":48012276334769,"sku":"SB-0008457549-C3","price":754.8,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/2669\/5345\/files\/0008457549.jpg?v=1791507915","url":"https:\/\/sellbooks.co.uk\/products\/clubland-a-radio-4-book-of-the-week","provider":"Sell Books .co.uk","version":"1.0","type":"link"}