The Northern Question (Paperback)

Tom Hazeldine

ISBN 10: 1786634090 / ISBN 13: 9781786634092

Published by Verso Books, London, 2021

About this Item

Paperback. Britain has scarcely begun to come to terms with its recent upheavals, from the crisis over Brexit to the collapse of Labours red wall. What can explain such momentous shifts?In this essential work, Tom Hazeldine excavates the history of a divided country: North and South, industry versus finance, Whitehall and the left-behind. Only by fully registering these deep-seated tensions, he argues, can we make sense of the present moment. Hazeldine tracks the North-South divide over the longue duree, from the formation of an English state rooted in London and the south-east; the Industrial Revolution and the rise of provincial trade unions and the Labour party; the dashed hopes for regional economic renewal in the post-war years; the sharply contrasting fates of northern manufacturing and the City of London under Thatcher and New Labour; to the continuing repercussions of financial crisis and austerity. The Northern Question is set to transform our understanding of the politics of Westminster its purpose, according to Hazeldine, to stand English history on its head. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781786634092

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Northern Question (Paperback)
• Publisher: Verso Books, London
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1786634090
• ISBN 13: 9781786634092
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A history of the UK’s regional inequalities, and why they matter

Differences between England’s North and South continue to shape national politics, from attitudes to Brexit and the electoral collapse of Labour’s ‘Red Wall’ to Whitehall’s experimentation with regional pandemic lockdowns. Why is this fault line such a persistent feature of the English landscape?

The Northern Question is a history of England seen in the unfamiliar light of a northern perspective. While London is the capital and the centre for trade and finance, the proclaimed leader of the nation, northern England has always seemed like a different country. In the nineteenth century its industrializing society appeared set to bring a political revolution down upon Westminster and the City. Tom Hazeldine recounts how subsequent governments put finance before manufacturing, London ahead of the regions, and austerity before reconstruction.

About the Author

Tom Hazeldine was born in Manchester in 1982. He studied at the University of York and Northwestern University, Illinois, and is now an editor at New Left Review. He lives in London.