Book Rating
Narrator Rating

Portillo's Hidden History of Britain

Unabridged Audio Book

Download On Audiobooks.com
Stream On Audiobooks.com

Download or Stream instantly more than 55,000 audiobooks.
Listen to "Portillo's Hidden History of Britain" on your iOS and Android device.

Don't have an iOS or Android device, then listen in your browse on any PC or Mac computer.

Author:

Narrator:

Length:

Publisher:

Date:

Phillip Franks

5 Hours 57 Minutes

Michael OMara Books

November 2018

Genres:

Audio Book Summary

Discover the hidden history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings.
Portillo's Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings. The chapters cover a variety of historical themes: Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, Defence and Warfare, and Entertainment and Leisure. Using a combination of his own investigations and archive research, plus memories and quotations from the contributors he interviewed for the series, Michael Portillo explains what the buildings were used for and by whom, why they were abandoned, and what they can tell us about our past. For example:
* Learn what the ruins of London Road Fire and Police Station in Manchester reveal about the history of the emergency services in the last 100 years
* How Bradford's art deco Odeon cinema encapsulates a century of film-making and movie-going
With evocative text that brings each location vividly to life, Michael Portillo describes the building and its activities in its heyday and compares this past life with its faded grandeur or melancholic abandonment seen today. Filled with fascinating insights and observations, his narrative provides a compelling and original perspective on Britain's social and military history.
Portillo's Hidden History of Britain features deserted villages, abandoned prisons, closed-down cinemas, empty hospitals, derelict military bases, sewers and much more. Complementing the text are 32 pages of atmospheric and informative photographs, including 'then' and 'now' images of the locations, which pointedly juxtapose their former glory with their present-day destitution.

Similar Audio Books