Melvyn Bragg’s historical fiction, which vividly conveys the spirit of the mid-20th century and the profound social changes taking place at the time.
Joseph Tallantire has hope and ambition – like his father before him he is determined to make something of himself and improve his lot.
But life is not easy for an uneducated young man in Cumberland before and during World War II, and Joseph’s struggle against the odds is the subject of this moving and evocative novel. Suffering hardship and humiliation but eventually achieving a position of some independence, Joseph serves as a tribute to the many like him who lived through one of Britain’s periods of greatest social change.
Melvyn Bragg’s 1970 novel was longlisted for the Lost Man Booker, in 2010.
Melvyn Bragg
About the Author
Melvyn Bragg, the cultural broadcaster and peer, was Booker Prize longlisted for the second time with A Son of War, the second volume in his The Soldier’s Return quartet.Other nominated books by Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg’s sequel to The Soldier’s Return. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the lives of the Richardson family have changed forever.