{"product_id":"an-english-library-journey-with-detours-to-wales-and-northern-ireland-hardcover","title":"An English Library Journey: With Detours to Wales and Northern Ireland - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Bevis\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Bevis is a writer and book-lover on an eccentric quest: to obtain a membership card from every library authority in England.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In a ten-year mission criss-crossing the country--from Solihull to Slough, from Cleveland to Cornwall--he enrolls at libraries of all shapes and sizes: monuments to Art Deco or Brutalism; a converted corset factory; one even shaped like a pork pie. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With the architectural eye of Pevsner and the eavesdropping ear of Bill Bryson, he engages us at every step with anecdotes and aperçus about the role of the public library in our national life, while ruing its decline in the age of austerity. As interested in the people he finds as he is in the buildings and their history, he is a humane, witty, and erudite guide. The result is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever used a library.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Bevis\u003c\/b\u003e has spent most of his working life with books: designing, printing, and publishing them at Coracle Press; typesetting and proof-reading them at the Victoria and Albert Museum; retailing them at the Whitechapel Art Gallery bookshop; and purchasing them for a library agency. Among his publications are collections of poetry; artist's books, cards, prints, and printed objects; catalogue essays; critical studies; true crime stories and biographies. Previous books include \u003ci\u003eAaaaw to Zzzzzd: The Words of Birds \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Keartons: Inventing Nature Photography\u003c\/i\u003e. He divides his time between Ironbridge in Shropshire and London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 272\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 7.9 x 5.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 15, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50331928166637,"sku":"9781785633089","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0020\/8918\/9441\/files\/wXXqhrzirW9781785633089.webp?v=1784961698","url":"https:\/\/www.webster.direct\/en-gb\/products\/an-english-library-journey-with-detours-to-wales-and-northern-ireland-hardcover","provider":"Webster.Direct","version":"1.0","type":"link"}