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Keeping Quiet is a love-letter to the modern sight-gag on film and television, tracing the history of physical clowning since the advent of sound. Taking up the story of visual humour where Paul Merton's Silent Comedy leaves off, Julian Dutton charts the lives and work of all the great comedians who chose to remain silent, from Charlie Chaplin - who was determined to resist the ‘talkies' - right through to the slapstick of modern-day performers such as Rowan Atkinson, Matt Lucas and Harry Hill. This fascinating chronicle - spanning nine decades - shows how physical comedy, at first overshadowed by dialogue-films in the 1930s, reinvented itself and how this revival was spearheaded by a Fren...
For centuries, living afloat on Britain's waterways has been a rich part of the fabric of our social history, from the fisherfolk of ancient Britain to the bohemian houseboat dwellers of the 1950s and beyond. Whether they have chosen to leave the land behind and take to the water or been driven there by necessity, the history of the houseboat is a unique and fascinating seam of British history. In Water Gypsies, Julian Dutton – who was born and grew up on a houseboat – traces the evolution of boat-dwelling, from an industrial phenomenon in the heyday of the canals to the rise of life afloat as an alternative lifestyle in postwar Britain. Drawing on personal accounts and with a beautiful collection of illustrations, Water Gypsies is both a vivid narrative of a unique way of life and a valuable addition to social history.
'Move over, young James Bond - a new hero for children's fiction has been born!' - Jen Celti, BookNews. Samuel Pepys is famous for his grown-up diaries. Here, for the first time, are his childhood memoirs - a thrilling tale packed with excitement & adventure set against the colourful backdrop of the English Civil War. It's 1642, and young Sam is struggling with the dull routine of life at school. But when he witnesses a fellow-schoolboy plotting a secret mission with Royalists, he soon finds himself swept up in a strange quest. What is the secret of King Alfred's Jewel? Who is the mysterious Lord Falkner & his haughty, troubled sister Eleanor? Can Sam & his friends decode an old monk's treasure-map before King Charles & his troops attack Gloucester? In this 'fun, fast-moving romp, ' (Rosemary Fiennes, Gambit), Julian Dutton has woven a thrilling comical tale of the seventeenth century, as the boy who would become the famous Samuel Pepys grows up in a country at war with itself. 'Kids of 8-12 will love this. Sam is feisty, likeable, and full of a get-up-and-go that is irresistible. This book has fun and gusto in spades, ' - Jacqueline Adderley, New Fiction Review.
Thousands of literary, popular, non-fiction and archival texts since the eighteenth century document the human experience of the British industrial canal. This book traces networks of literary canal texts across four centuries to understand our relationships with water, with place, and with the past. In our era of climate crisis, this reading calls for a rethinking of the waterways of literature not simply as an antique transport system, but as a coal-fired energy system with implications for the present. This book demonstrates how waterways literature has always been profoundly interested in the things we dig out of the ground, and the uses to which they are put. The industrial canal never just connected parts of Britain: via its literature we read the ways in which we are in touch with previous centuries and epochs, how canals linked inland Britain to Empire, how they connected forms of labour, and people to water.
Canals in a Changing Britain: Construction, Culture, and Environment, 1760–1968 assesses canals as a major technological system re-shaping Britons’ relationship with their landscape and environment for over 200 years. It offers a sustained narrative addressing: canal construction in the late eighteenth century, living and working communities alongside canals in the nineteenth century, canals’ relationship to concerns regarding de-industrialization in the early twentieth century and canals as sites for the experience of nature and rural life in the postwar era between 1945 and 1968. This book makes use of a variety of archival and published material on canals and references academic publications on histories of technology and the environment, as well as scholarship related specifically to canals. It argues contemporary conversations regarding the current and future use of canals as multi-faceted sites of recreation, leisure, heritage, and experience of the natural environment in Britain must be seen in the context of an arc of historical experience between 1760 and 1968.
With crisp dialog, outrageous characters, and an absurd sense of humor, it's no wonder British sitcoms are so well-loved! Best of the Britcoms covers the most noteworthy situation comedies ever to cross the pond. Each entry combines a show summary with descriptions of standout episodes and behind-the-scenes details, plus gives you production data and full cast listings. And now, the revised edition of this Britcom classic contains seven new chapters on programs that have aired in the U.S. since the original edition was published, such as The Office, Extras, and My Family. Fans of old-school Britcoms won't be disappointed either, as the revised edition also includes the later developments of older series' storylines and detailed information on specials and cast reunions that have occurred in the intervening years. Pick up this book, kick back, and get to know a Britcom!
"Just pick up a copy and set off. You'll be amazed at what you've missed." - Sir Michael Palin MARCH, 2020: A columnist watches as London locks down, facing a conundrum as his weekly deadline for his newspaper diary approaches. With the city shutting up shop and column inches to fill, journalist Dan Carrier takes to the deserted streets of Central London to uncover the forgotten stories the heart of the UK capital holds. Untold London is a consideration and celebration of a city whose famous landmarks and thoroughfares are often taken for granted. Setting out to find lingering evidence of days gone by, Dan reveals unexpected delights, triumphs and tragedies alongside plenty of skulduggery and scandal in the greatest city in the world.