Northerners: The bestselling history of the North of England

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This authoritative new history of place and people lays out the dramatic events that created the north – waves of migration, invasions and battles, and transformative changes wrought on European culture and the global economy. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from the earliest times to the present day, the book shows that the people of the north have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways. Neither. They are just people. I dislike sweeping generalisations. Both contain wildly varying individuals, good and bad.

So, whether you are a history enthusiast, a proud Northerner, or simply seeking a captivating literary experience, ‘Northerners’ is a must-read that will transport you through time and leave you with a profound appreciation for the North’s enduring spirit. What sets the book apart is the scale and geographical focus. Groom does an excellent job of bouncing around topics, and his skills really flourish in later chapters. When diving into a very particular aspect of the north's history, such as migration, leisure or even sheep farming, Groom's broad historical brush strokes pay off dividends. He gets to leap across centuries and pull together different parts of northern history which a narrower focus wouldn't allow. It makes for a fun read and is perfect for anybody wanting a neat overview of the region. It also embraces the scenery of the north, and Groom's accounts of Liverpool, the Pennines, Northumbria and Manchester are all very evocative. A second book, with the working title These Isles, is due to be published in May 2025. It will tell the story of the relationship between the peoples of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and other parts of the British and Irish isles.In 1913, Lancashire produced two-thirds of the world output of cotton cloth. By 1938, it was only 25%.

Northern writers, activists, artists and comedians are celebrated the world over, from Wordsworth, the Brontes and Gaskell to LS Lowry, Emmeline Pankhurst and Peter Kay. St Oswald and Bede shaped the spiritual and cultural landscapes of Britain and Europe, and the world was revolutionised by the inventions of Richard Arkwright and the Stephensons. The north has exported some of sport’s biggest names and defined the sound of generations, from the Beatles to Britpop.

Obvious bias aside, I really enjoyed this book. It was well-researched and even more well written. Brian Groom has a clear writing style which conveys information I have never read before. Groom traces the history of England's northern region from the beginning of the Earth to the present day. It is massive in scope, but Groom manages the time equally. None of the book ever felt dull, though, even the periods that do not particularly interest me.

This authoritative new history of place and people lays out the dramatic events that created the north - waves of migration, invasions and battles, and transformative changes wrought on European culture and the global economy. In a sweeping narrative that takes us from the earliest times to the present day, the book shows that the people of the north have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways. Another revelation in ‘Northerners’ is the surprising number of Roman Emperors hailing from York. While many are aware of Constantine the Great due to his statue outside the Minster, the prominence of other Roman Emperors from York has gone unnoticed. Writer Brian Groom seeks to do just that in Northerners: A History, a definitive new chronicle of the region, the first to appear this century. Author Brian Groom: It’s certainly evolving. Globalisation and the internet are weakening it, but I’d be astonished if it died out after all these centuries.This easily-readable history of the north of England is not a coherent narrative. It reads as a collection of independent, semi-linked chapters rather than a free-flowing, interconnected whole. And it is a reminder that the north of England is not an easily defined entity. There is a real difficulty in writing a separate history of the north, because the north is not separate from England. The connections between the north and the south are too deep for this awkward and simplistic division. On the other hand, regional differences are more genuine, something that the book brings to light. I fear that in some sense the book wants to divide, that the author wants to leave us with uncertainty and open wounds rather than conclude with healing or at least aim towards it. On several issues. HarperNorth has landed "the defining biography of northern England" by former Financial Times journalist Brian Groom. Northerners also shows how the past echoes down the centuries. The devastation of factory and pit closures in the 1980s, for example, recalled the trauma of William the Conqueror’s Harrying of the North. The book charts how the North-South divide has ebbed and flowed and explores the very real divisions between Northerners. But behind the success story lay the misery of city slums, short, unhappy lives, a reliance on slave-trade cotton, the fruits of imperial expansion and armed trade – dubbed “war capitalism.” And the spectacular Victorian boom didn’t last. By 1900, Britain had been overtaken by the USA. In 1988 he launched Scotland on Sunday, Scotsman Publications’ Sunday paper, as deputy editor and later became editor. It was voted UK Newspaper of the Year (Newspaper Industry Awards 1994) and UK Sunday Newspaper of the Year (Newspaper Industry Awards 1997).