Portrait of Leicestershire

by Brian J. Bailey

224 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Richard Newbold · Rating 3 out of 5]

A popular history of Leicester and Leicestershire dating from the 1970s, but still a very readable and informative book. Its coverage of Leicester, the first 65 pages of the book, rather skims the surface of such a historic city, though I'm glad to see that the long, mostly illustrious, history of dissent and nonconformism is well covered. The authors' comments on the then recent influx of immigrants make for cringe-making reading, but from memory it's par for the course in the 1970s. He is on surer ground as he perambulates around the County (which includes Rutland, then recently "absorbed" into Leics by the 1974 Local Government reorganisation), finishing up with an affectionate description of Hinckley and the pleasant but unremarkable south west of the County, which he calls "Stockingopolis" - a phrase from my youth, now sadly archaic. So a good read if you can purchase a decent copy secondhand.