Audiobooks narrated by Stuart Maconie

The Full English: A Journey in Search of a Country and its People

From the author of 250,000-copy bestseller Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North A New Statesman nonfiction pick for 2023 A Bookseller One to Watch What kind of country is England today? What does it mean to be English? Are we hungry for change or seeking old certainties? Join Stuart Maconie on an enlightening, entertaining journey through England, from Bristol's Banksy to Durham's beaches, from Cotswolds corduroy to Stoke's oatcakes. As his guide, Maconie walks in the footsteps of J.B. Priestley's classic travelogue, English Journey, to explore our national identity and how it has evolved over the last century. On his way, Stuart takes inspiration from the people he meets at bus stops and train stations, cafes and corner shops. Travelling the length of the land, Maconie explores the differences between city and town, north and south, and examines our past and present with affection and insight. Whether he’s passing the boutique hotels of Manchester, the moors of Ilkley or the grand houses of Tynemouth, looking out over misty fens or urban skylines, he shines a light on the people who make these places and asks what the future holds for them. Along the way, he uncovers local heroes and secret histories over early breakfasts and last orders. Through his journey, he lets us see our homes and habits, hopes and eccentricities with fresh eyes. THE FULL ENGLISH challenges us to embrace the messy, shifting and diverse nature of England, and to ask ourselves what kind of country we want to be.

Stuart Maconie (Author), Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

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Great Musicians' Lives: A BBC biography collection

Distinguished guests nominate a great musician for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives For 20 years, Great Lives has been a linchpin of Radio 4, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. In it, a household name is invited to choose one of their heroes to discuss with the presenter and a guest expert. But will their chosen person live up to intensive scrutiny, and merit the description of having led a great life? In this special collection, celebrating the programme's 20th anniversary, the very best episodes featuring musicians' lives are collected together. From Marvin Gaye to Lonnie Donegan, here are examples both classical and contemporary. Simon Armitage expresses his admiration for on Ian Curtis, Phill Jupitus nominates Joe Strummer, pianist Joanna MacGregor selects Nina Simone, and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo champions Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Whether it's Hanif Kureishi on David Bowie or Stuart Maconie on Ralph Vaughan Williams or the lives of the proponents are every bit as interesting as those of their nominees. Fascinating and engaging, these captivating episodes follow the ups and downs of some of the most iconic musicians of all time, separating the truth from the myths to reveal just what made them so great, and why they continue to influence and inspire us today. List of episodes and date of first broadcast on BBC Radio 4: Louis Armstrong 12.7.02 Sergei Rachmaninoff 11.4.03 Pyotr Tchaikovsky 16.4.04 Marvin Gaye 5.11.04 Sir Edward Elgar 19.11.04 Mozart 19.4.05 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor 21.10.05 Ella Fitzgerald 2.5.06 Nina Simone 19.9.06 Joe Strummer 3.4.07 Billie Holiday 1.5.07 John Cage 04.09.07 Paul Robeson 29.4.08 Ian Curtis 6.5.08 Alan Freed 26.8.08 Pavarotti 9.12.08 Thomas Beecham 21.04.09 John Coltrane 12.05.09 Miriam Makeba 15.09.09 Agustin Barrios Mangore 26.1.10 Malcolm McLaren 07.12.10 Kathleen Ferrier 26.04.11 Kirtsy McColl 09.08.11 Lonnie Donegan 03.1.12 Ralph Vaughan Williams 25.12.12 Fela Kuti 13.8.13 Jacqueline Du Pre 1.04.14 Dinu Lipatti 20.12.16 Captain Beefheart 03.04.18 Miles Davis 17.04.18 David Bowie 31.07.18 Ferruccio Busoni 30.04.19 Brian Epstein 14.5.19 Herbert Howells 06.08.19 Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Presented by Humphrey Carpenter, Matthew Parris and Francine Stock Produced by Mark Smalley, Miles Warde, Perminder Khatkar, Peter Everett, Isobel Eaton, Jolyon Jenkins, John Byrne, Maggie Ayre, Christine Hall, Julia Johnson, Mark Smalley, Chris Ledgard, Beth O'Dea, Lucy Lunt, Eliza Lomas, Melvin Rickarby

Francine Stock, Humphrey Carpenter, Joan Bakewell, Matthew Parris (Author), Francine Stock, Hanif Kureishi, Humphrey Carpenter, Joan Bakewell, Matthew Parris, Michael Morpurgo, Phill Jupitus, Simon Armitage, Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

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The Nanny State Made Me: A Story of Britain and How to Save it

Brought to you by Penguin. 'He is as funny as Bryson and as wise as Orwell' Observer It was the spirit of our finest hour, the backbone of our post-war greatness, and it promoted some of the boldest and most brilliant schemes this isle has ever produced: it was the Welfare State, and it made you and I. But now it's under threat, and we need to save it. In this timely and provocative book, Stuart Maconie tells Britain’s Welfare State story through his own history of growing up as a northern working class boy. What was so bad about properly funded hospitals, decent working conditions and affordable houses? And what was so wrong about student grants, free eye tests and council houses? And where did it all go so wrong? Stuart looks toward Britain’s future, making an emotional case for believing in more than profit and loss; and championing a just, fairer society. © Stuart Maconie 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Stuart Maconie (Author), Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

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Long Road from Jarrow: A journey through Britain then and now

Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Long Road from Jarrow, written and read by Stuart Maconie. In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie, walks from north to south retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade. Following history's footsteps, Maconie is in search of what Modern Britain is really like today.Travelling down the country's spine, Maconie moves through a land that is, in some ways, very much the same as the England of the thirties with its political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks and of course, football mania. Yet in other ways, it is completely unrecognisable; highstreets peppered with pound shops and e-cigarette vendors, smoothie bars and Costas on every corner.Maconie visits the great, established and yet evolving cities of Leeds, Sheffield and London, as well as the sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways. He meets those with stories to tell and whose voices build a funny, complex and entertaining tale of Britain, then and now. Written in Maconie's signature style, this is a fascinating exploration of a modern nation that, though looks and sounds strangely familiar, has been completely transformed.

Stuart Maconie (Author), Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hope and Glory: The Days that Made Britain

In Hope and Glory Stuart goes in search of the places, people and events of the century we have just left behind that have shaped the look and character of modern Britain. From the death of Victoria to the demise of New Labour, he takes a single event from each decade of the 20th century that offers up a defining moment in our history and then goes in search of its legacy today. The death of a queen, a bloody war, a nation on strike, a first broadcast, a ship coming into land, reaching for the top of the world, an epic football match, a youth rebellion, a pop concert and an election - each event in turn has shaped our national culture and spirit to make us who we are. Some were glorious days, some tragic, even shameful, but each has played its part - from sport to music, politics to war, industrial relations to exploration - in making modern Britain.1901 - the death of Victoria and the rise of British women; 1916 - the First World War in the national psyche; 1926 - the General Strike and industrial conflict; 1936 - how the British invented television; 1948 - the docking of the Empire Windrush and multi-cultural Britain; 1953 - Edmund Hillary's ascent of Everest and the tradition of British adventure; 1966 - how we won the World Cup and our continued obsession with the game we gave the world; 1977 - Royalists and Rebels, the Queen's Silver Jubilee and the rise of punk; 1985 - how Live Aid gave birth to celebrity culture; 1997 - the rise and fall of Blair's spin revolution.

Stuart Maconie (Author), Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

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Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North

A Northerner in exile, Stuart Maconie goes on a journey in search of the North, attempting to discover where the clichés end and the truth begins. He travels from Wigan Pier to Blackpool Tower and Newcastle's Bigg Market to the Lake District to find his own Northern Soul, encountering along the way an exotic cast of chippy Scousers, pie-eating woollybacks, topless Geordies, mad-for-it Mancs, Yorkshire nationalists and brothers in southern exile.

Stuart Maconie (Author), Stuart Maconie (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Stuart Maconie