Before the oil ran out: Britain, 1977-86

by Ian Jack

. 1987 reprint, no dustjacket, clean copy, inscription on ndpaper, no other marking, Professional booksellers since 1981

Genres: History, British Literature, Scotland

1000 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Ian Jack is a British journalist and writer who has edited the Independent on Sunday and the literary magazine Granta and now writes regularly for The Guardian.

Reviews

[Peter Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting selection of articles done over the years by an engaging writer, all now historical pieces.The first is particularly good and as,it’s an account of his father’s life,is not dated.Quite a few show how concerns of 30 years ago are still relevant today such as gentrification in the East End of London.The last one about the Jeffrey Archer libel case was written about 15 years before Archer was found to have lied so it gives a revealing look at the chief witness against Archer.A pleasant read for nostalgic British culture lovers.Well written too.

[Tinanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and a bit depressing. These articles were written during a time when I lived in England, enjoying prosperity in London. Every evening on the news, announcements of job cuts were made with the regularity and solemnity of a church bell tolling. These dire statistics were always relative to somewhere 'up north', and in a lot of people's minds were probably caused by, rather than causative of, the angry picket lines that appeared in the same news stories. This book, a chance discovery from a second-hand book fair, tells a lot of the other side of the story via a number of well written essays covering a wide area, geographically as well as socio-economically, with subjects ranging from the dreams and ambitions of gilded Oxford youth, to unemployed Merseyside workers surviving by scavenging from the tip.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather dated, Jack is not my favourite author.