Audiobooks by David Kynaston

Deep Into the Sixties: Britain 1965–66

"'The poet of postwar Britain . . . In a league of his own' JONATHAN COE ‘My goodness, [the series] rockets along: every page contains something surprising, something funny, something sad' CRAIG BROWN, SUNDAY TIMES The sixth book in the celebrated ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’ series – named one of the best books of the 21st century by the Sunday Times It’s the heart of the Sixties in Britain – the Beatles and the Stones vie at the top of the charts, England win the World Cup, and optimism and patriotism percolate through the streets. But this is not the full story of those years. Disaffection on the political left increasingly focuses on the escalating Vietnam War; and the ambitious hopes of Harold Wilson’s Labour government start to founder on the parlous state of the pound. This was a time of looking both backwards and forwards – sweeping reforms to secondary education, huge swathes of urban redevelopment, and the irresistible rise of a confident, free-spending youth culture. Yet everyday life for many, especially beyond the big cities, bore striking resemblance to decades earlier. Covering the short but intense period from after Churchill’s death in early 1965 to England’s Wembley triumph in July 1966, David Kynaston uses a plethora of contemporary sources, including diaries of ordinary people, to paint a richly nuanced picture of unrivalled detail. Deep Into the Sixties continues to revolutionise how we see post-war Britain."

David Kynaston (Author), Mark Meadows (Narrator)

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Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket

"Bloomsbury presents Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket by Stephen Fay and David Kynaston, read by Mark Meadows WINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2019 'Beautifully written, meticulously researched and stuffed with rich sporting and social history ... Unputdownable' Mail on Sunday After the Second World War, as the BBC tightened its grip on the national consciousness, two of the most famous English voices were commentators on games of cricket. John Arlott and E.W. ('Jim') Swanton transformed the broadcasting of the nation’s summer game into a national institution. Arlott and Swanton typified the contrasting aspects of post-war Britain. Because of their strong personalities and distinctive voices – Swanton's crisp and upper-class, Arlott's with its Hampshire burr – each had a loyal following. As England moved from a class-based to a more egalitarian society, nothing stayed the same – including professional cricket. Wise, lively and filled with rich social and sporting history, Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket shows how, as the game entered a new era, these two very different men battled to save the soul of the game. 'Magnificent … One of the best cricket books I’ve read in years: it makes long-forgotten matches live and breathe as though they were played yesterday' Daily Mail, Books of the Year 'A triumph … [Kynaston and Fay] both have inside-outside sensitivities that keep this near-seamless collaboration shrewd, worldly, balanced and fresh' Times Literary Supplement C 2018 Stephen Fay C 2018 David Kynaston P 2024 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"

David Kynaston, Stephen Fay (Author), Mark Meadows (Narrator)

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Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic

"Bloomsbury presents Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts, read by David Thorpe. CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS CRICKET BOOK OF THE YEAR THE CRICKET WRITERS’ CLUB DEREK HODGSON BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2024 'This entertaining book is gripping reading for any cricket buff' Sunday Times 'An epic contest superbly retold . . . a fascinating slice of social history, it is a spellbinding read' Vic Marks 'You should go out and buy it now, because the book is brilliant’ Spectator David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts relive the compelling story of a gripping Ashes-deciding Test match that heralded the dawn of a new era for English cricket. The Ashes are on the line as England and Australia meet at Old Trafford in July 1961 for the fourth Test. For most of the match, England have their noses ahead – until a dramatic final day, of intensely fluctuating fortunes, as the tourists eventually storm to victory. In short, an Ashes classic, told here by David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts in vivid and immersive detail, recreating the sometimes agonising experience of millions of armchair viewers and listeners. At the heart of Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes are two strikingly contrasting personalities: England’s captain, the Cambridge-educated, risk-averse, establishment-minded Peter May; and Australia’s captain, the charismatic, risk-taking, open-minded Benaud – a contrast not only between two individuals, but between two cricketing and indeed national cultures. Whereas Benaud and Australia symbolised a new, meritocratic era, May and England seemed, in what was still an amateur-dominated game, to look back to an old imperial legacy out of sync with the dawning Sixties. The sharply observed final chapters take the story up to the present day. They relate the ‘after-lives’ of the match’s key participants, including Ted Dexter, Bill Lawry and Fred Trueman as well as May and Benaud; trace the continuing chequered relationship between English cricket and broader social change; and, after six more decades of fierce Ashes rivalry, wrestle with the perennial conundrum for all England supporters – why do the baggy green caps usually beat us?"

David Kynaston, Harry Ricketts (Author), David Thorpe (Narrator)

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A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65

"Bloomsbury presents A Northern Wind by David Kynaston, read by Mark Meadows. A WATERSTONES, TIMES, TELEGRAPH, NEW STATESMAN, SPECTATOR AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR The early sixties in Britain told as only David Kynaston ('the most entertaining historian alive' Spectator) can. Running from 1962 to 1965, A Northern Wind is the anticipated new volume in the landmark ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’ series. 'Addictively readable . . . Kynaston's tireless research turns up plenty of gems' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'A breathtaking array of treasures' TLS 'Magisterial' Financial Times ‘Here is an intricate tapestry that conveys the essence of time’ Literary Review How much can change in less than two and a half years? In the case of Britain in the Sixties, the answer is: almost everything. From the seismic coming of the Beatles to a sex scandal that rocked the Tory government to the arrival at No 10 of Harold Wilson, a prime minister utterly different from his Old Etonian predecessors. A Northern Wind, the keenly anticipated next instalment of David Kynaston’s acclaimed Tales of a New Jerusalem series, brings to vivid life the period between October 1962 and February 1965. Drawing upon an unparalleled array of diaries, newspapers and first-hand recollections, Kynaston’s masterful storytelling refreshes familiar events – the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Big Freeze, the assassination of JFK, the funeral of Winston Churchill – while revealing in all their variety the experiences of the people living through this history. Major themes complement the compelling narrative: an anti-Establishment mood epitomised by the BBC’s controversial That Was The Week That Was; a welfare state only slowly becoming more responsive to the individual needs of its users; and the rise of consumer culture, as Habitat arrived and shopping centres like Birmingham’s Bull Ring proliferated. Multi-voiced, multi-dimensional and immersive, Tales of a New Jerusalem has transformed how we see and understand post-war Britain. A Northern Wind continues the journey."

David Kynaston (Author), Mark Meadows (Narrator)

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On the Cusp: Days of '62

"The fourth book in the celebrated ‘Tales of a New Jerusalem’ series – named one of the best books of the 21st century by the Sunday Times Bloomsbury presents On the Cusp by David Kynaston, read by Mark Meadows. A TIMES BEST PAPERBACK OF 2022 ————————— 'Glorious ... It's rare to read anything so teeming with life' SPECTATOR, Books of the Year 'This is Kynaston at his best ... A rich and vivid picture of a nation in all its human complexity' IAN JACK 'A compulsive read ... Generous as well as sharp' MARGARET DRABBLE 'I was captivated by its brilliance' D. J. TAYLOR The ‘real’ Sixties began on 5 October 1962. On that remarkable Friday, the Beatles hit the world with their first single, ‘Love Me Do’, and the first James Bond film, Dr No, had its world premiere in London: two icons of the future heralding a social and cultural revolution. On the Cusp, continuing David Kynaston’s groundbreaking history of post-war Britain, takes place during the summer and early autumn of 1962, in the charged months leading up to the moment that a country changed. The Rolling Stones’ debut at the Marquee Club, the last Gentlemen versus Players match at Lord’s, the issue of Britain’s relationship with Europe starting to divide the country, Telstar the satellite beaming live TV pictures across the world, ‘Telstar’ the record a siren call to a techno future – these were months thick with incident, all woven together here with an array of fresh contemporary sources, including diarists both famous and obscure. Britain would never be the same again after these months. Sometimes indignant, sometimes admiring, always empathetic, On the Cusp evokes a world of seaside holidays, of church fetes, of Steptoe and Son – a world still of seemingly settled social and economic certainties, but in fact on the edge of fundamental change. 'Sparkles with voices from a vanished world ... An entrancing representation, full of exquisite detail' KATE WILLIAMS 'What a joy it has been to find myself wholly immersed in the richness of Kynaston's account ... Thrilling' JULIET NICOLSON C 2021 David Kynaston P 2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"

David Kynaston (Author), Mark Meadows (Narrator)

Audiobook

Shots in the Dark: A Diary of Saturday Dreams and Strange Times

"Bloomsbury presents Shots in the Dark by David Kynaston, read by Mark Meadows. I loved every page, and ended up admiring David Kynaston, our greatest social historian, even more than I already did' Nick Hornby Brimming with wisdom and humour, David Kynaston’s diaries written over one football season offer up his most personal take on social history to date. David Kynaston was seven and a half years old when he attended his first Aldershot match in the early months of 1959. So began a deep attachment to the game and a lifelong loyalty to an obscure, small-town football club. Though as he sits down to write his diaries almost sixty years on, he reflects that life might have been simpler if his father had never taken him to that first match at the Rec… Shots in the Dark is the diary David Kynaston kept in the football season of 2016/17, detailing the ups and downs of the ‘Shots’ in the year that saw a divisive referendum in the UK and the impending ascension of Donald Trump. Here Kynaston presents a social history of modern Britain with a difference – all through the prism of the beautiful game. A testament to the ways in which fandom gives solidity and security to our lives, particularly in these bewildering and rapidly changing times, Shots in the Dark gets to the heart of what it means to be a devoted follower of a sports team. This is a diary of the macro and the micro, as questions of loyalty, of identity, of liberalism and of nationalism all rub uncomfortably up against each other during nine charged months. 'A master socioeconomic craftsman' Guardian '[A] delightful book … This is a book about football but, like all the best books, it is about a thousand other things as well … This thrilling, intimate, sometimes poignant, often wonderfully funny book shows the workings in real time of a deeply civilised, humane and tolerant mind in an age when those virtues are in short supply. Here is a man with whom you would want to go to a match, and even share a beer afterwards. David Kynaston is one of the good guys, and this is one of the very good books' Daily Mail 'A charming diary ... He’s the sort of fan I want to sit next to: partisan yet civil, eyes on the match but aware there are bigger things to worry about' Financial Times C 2021 David Kynaston P 2021 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"

David Kynaston (Author), Mark Meadows (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks by David Kynaston

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