The hidden places of Britain

by Leslie Thomas

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 1981

About the author

Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, 1931, Leslie Thomas is the son of a sailor who was lost at sea in 1943. His boyhood in an orphanage is evoked in This Time Next Week, published in 1964. At sixteen, he became a reporter, before going on to do his national service. He won worldwide acclaim with his bestselling novel The Virgin Soldiers, which has achieved international sales of over four million copies.

Reviews

[Misty Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leslie Thomas was always one of my favourite authors and I think I have read almost all of his books and many magazine articles over the years.
I have to say that this is beautifully written and if nostalgic travel in the British Isles is your 'thing', then has to be recommended. It is also beautifully illustrated.
I also have to confess that I struggled in places as this is not really my own 'thing' - even where he describes places I have been to. It is just too poetic in places and lacks some of the humour [?] or immediacy of, say, Dervla Murphy's travel books (This is not to say that there is no humour but it is generally of the wry-smile variety rather than laugh-out-loud)

[Bill McFadyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is over forty years since this book was published and life in the UK has changed dramatically . However the places mentioned are still worth a visit. Leslie obviously enjoyed travelling and meeting the locals and this comes through the pages.
We have visited most of the places mentioned - but not Allendale where I plan to go this year.

[Molly Tysle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great piece of descriptive non-fiction. The Hidden Places truly do sound hidden - for I have never heard of them. Leslie Thomas' writing is good even making you smile on the boring parts that you may not have interest in. I wish all the pictures were in colour - as some were. The ones that weren't made it hard to see properly. Colour is very important in photographs.