{"product_id":"one-fine-day-a-journey-through-english-time-9781914613555","title":"One Fine Day: A Journey Through English Time","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA time-travelling, genealogical adventure, bringing pre-industrial, rural, eighteenth-century England vividly to life on the page. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eOne day Ian Marchant, acclaimed author of books on music, railways and pubs, decided, as all men of a certain age must, to have a dig around his family history. Surprisingly quickly, a web search informed him that his seven-times-great great-grandfather, Thomas Marchant had left a detailed diary from 1714 to 1728. So far, so jolly ... \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLife-loving diarist Thom - who liked a drink and a game of cards - feels recognisably Marchant to Ian. With fascinating detail we learn about Thom's family farm and fishponds; about dung, horses and mud; about beer, the wife's nights out, his own job troubles and their shared worries for their children. But as Ian digs deeper beyond the Sussex diary's bucolic portrait he discovers a subtext - a family descended from immigrants, with anti-establishment politics, who are struggling with illness, political instability and cash crises - just as their country does three centuries on. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003e'When I was reflecting late one January evening on the differences between Thom and me, I realised the unbridgeable thing that comes between us is industrialisation. He lived right at its beginning, while I am living somewhere towards its end. Old Thom Marchant was one of the last people before industrialisation to understand how his world worked - and how to be largely self-sufficient in it. He knew where his food came from, his fuel, his water, his clothes. He knew how the welfare system worked, and was part of its administration; he knew who looked after the roads, too. He collected taxes. He was not separate from the system, but part of it.' \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/em\u003eRich with immersive detail, \u003cem\u003eOne Fine Day\u003c\/em\u003e draws a living portrait of Marchant family life in the 1720s and how their England (rainy, muddy, politically turbulent, illness-ridden) became the England of the 2020s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Elegiac, consistently funny, deeply moving.' - Richard Beard \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Ian Marchant is one of England's most original writers. \u003cem\u003eOne Fine Day\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterwork.' - Monique Roffey\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e September Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/09\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781914613555\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352","brand":"Ian Marchant","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43624130019509,"sku":"9781914613555","price":15.26,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_ace2fa0d-2912-43d2-8f12-eaf0f78d6384.jpg?v=1707800929","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/one-fine-day-a-journey-through-english-time-9781914613555","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}