The North Will Rise Again: In Search of the Future in Northern Heartlands

Description

An in-depth exploration of the importance of the North of England in the modern era. The North Will Rise Again covers the colourful adventures of its inhabitants, the expansiveness and optimism that defines Northern culture, and the recurrent sense of failure and despair that is at the heart of one of the West's most impoverished regions. By telling the story of the North in the last few decades, Alex goes in search of answers to some of the big questions at the forefront of British politics and society today, touching on live issues including the North/South divide, austerity, the impact of Brexit, the collapse of Labour's 'Red Wall', and calls for regional devolution. He concludes with a powerful argument for a revival of northern politics and society by way of what he calls 'radical regionalism'. A native Northerner himself, having returned to his home city of Newcastle with his family in the last few years, Alex also includes elements of memoir and stories from his own family history to reflect some of the key arguments of his book. To what extent are the crises of the last ten years partly the result of fundamental divides and inequalities in the geography of England? How did the North become a place of lost potential and broken dreams? And what can be done to make it one of the most dynamic and forward-looking places in the world once again? Niven considers all these questions and more in this lively and highly topical book.

Alex Niven lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. He writes regularly for the Guardian, Tribune and New Statesman, and has also contributed to publications including the New York Times, the Independent, Pitchfork, The Face and VICE. As well as Folk Opposition (Zero, 2011), he is the author of an instalment in Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 series (on Definitely Maybe by Oasis, 2014) and New Model Island (Repeater, 2019), a critically acclaimed memoir of Englishness and regional identity. Currently Lecturer in English Literature at Newcastle University, he helped to start the radical publisher Repeater Books in 2014.

Incorporating sharp questions and big ideas, Niven shifts deftly between history, politics, culture and literature to offer a fascinating and provocative analysis of the marginalisation of the North. -- Madeleine Bunting, author of Labours of Love: the Crisis of Care Alex Niven's elegant, heartfelt book is the best I have read about the North's subordination by the South in modern England, and about how visionary northern culture of all kinds has defied that imbalance. -- Andy Beckett, Guardian journalist Alex Niven reveals the north of England in all its variety, potential and vitality. One Nation Under a Groove in book form. -- Lynsey Hanley, author of Respectable: Crossing the Class Divide