- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Illustrated; New edition edition (4 Dec 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0002201992
- ISBN-13: 978-0002201995
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 19 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 66,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Running the 400-odd miles between London and Edinburgh, the A1 is Britain’s backbone. This book is a photographic portrait of life on the road.
Jon Nicholson’s mission is to find out what makes the people living and travelling along Britain’s oldest and longest highway tick. Fuelled by a combination of petrol and all-day breakfasts, his journey takes him through a land of extremes, in both culture and terrain, from the genteel to the gritty and from the rolling to the rugged.
The text by acclaimed travel writer Nigel Richardson captures the road spot-on, and is the perfect introduction to Nicholson’s pictures:
‘It has yet to be eulogised in rock’n’roll songs or seminal novels, as has Route 66 in the USA. But, in its piecemeal and self-effacing way, our own A1 tells a unique story about Britain and how we see ourselves. As with a great river, the four-hundred-mile route from London to Edinburgh has its own lore and landscape. The fattest man in English history died on the road: Daniel Lambert weighed nearly fifty-three stones when he pegged out in the Wagon and Horses in Stamford in 1809. And thirty years ago, as I made my way to school, the driver of a speeding Ford Zodiac almost spread me across the broken white lines that marked the road between Doncaster and Bawtry…
‘That close shave bred in me an initial fear of the A1 that modified into respect, and then fascination, as I grew up… When I saw Jon Nicholson’s photographs, I realised we shared a vision of the A1.
‘Nicholson had already completed a major photographic record of Route 66, that most iconic of highways that, in the words of the song, “winds from Chicago to LA, more than two thousand miles all the way.” The A1 may be a more modest affair, but the challenge, photographically, was just as stiff. His intention with these pictures was “to see the familiar with a fresh eye; to reminisce, while acknowledging the march of progress.”’
From the Back Cover
Running the 400-odd miles between London and Edinburgh, the A1 is Britains backbone. This book is a photographic portrait of life on the road.
Jon Nicholson's mission is to find out what makes people living and travelling along Britains oldest and longest highway tick. Fuelled by a combination of petrol and all day breakfasts, his journey takes him through a land of extremes, in both culture and terrain, from the genteel to the gritty and from the rolling to the rugged.
Jon Nicholson is a documentary photographer best known for his motorsport work most notably with Damon Hill. His pictures have been in many publications around the world, including 'National Geographic' and the 'Sunday Times' magazine.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Hardback and solidly bound, the volume contains over 100 pages of pictures of the A1.
Not a thrilling subject you may think! Give it a chance: 30 minutes takes you from the Angel in the heart of London to Edinburgh.
This "pictography" is laced with the authors' observations of the road; the grey buildings of hertfordshire's satellite towns; the dormant shipyards of the Tyne; serene Northumbrian hills, the rich heritage of Edinburgh. The Reader is guaranteed to be enlightened.
After this you will be fascinating your friends with facts about the road... did you know the Angel in Islington doesn't exist? It took its name from the Angel Hotel which provided much needed rest for horse drawn coaches two centuries ago. The A1 linked the capital to the north of the Isle before the advent of steam.
The A1 is more than tarmacadam. Read on and find out!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
An attempt to glamourise the old Great North Road, now the A1, that runs from London to Edinburgh, comparing it to other famous roads like Route 66 in the USA, etc.
The other reviewer suggests that this subject matter might be more interesting than you think. However I'd like to suggest that it *is* as interesting as you might think, which is not particularly interesting.
The photography is dull and grey and not particularly well composed. Apart from one pagan festival that Nicholson passes, it is totally lacking in character and atmosphere. The text tells you nothing. There are shameless Toyota adverts at both ends of the book. Very missable indeed.
Don't bother.
The other reviewer suggests that this subject matter might be more interesting than you think. However I'd like to suggest that it *is* as interesting as you might think, which is not particularly interesting.
The photography is dull and grey and not particularly well composed. Apart from one pagan festival that Nicholson passes, it is totally lacking in character and atmosphere. The text tells you nothing. There are shameless Toyota adverts at both ends of the book. Very missable indeed.
Don't bother.
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