The Critic Magazine

The beauty and richness of Brum

A FEW YEARS AGO, I WAS FILMED in Birmingham for a BBC documentary (the footage wasn’t used). As a location, I’d suggested outside the monumental 1834 Town Hall — built not for government but as a venue for the then-famous triennial music festival, which would feature premieres from Mendelssohn, Dvo?ák and Elgar. Instead, a concrete gutter of a dual carriageway was chosen: the usual dismissive shorthand for the city if, indeed, it is thought about at all.

Birmingham is virtually absent in our national life. Peaky Blinders might seem an exception, but it really only adds to this ignorance. As Richard Vinen outlines in this absorbing book, the city was far more a place of affluence and confidence, modern factories and spacious housing,

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Critic Magazine

The Critic Magazine3 min read
Tee Is For Trend
NOT TO MAKE THIS ABOUT me (LOLS, it’s always about me), but I realise this year’s columns are going a tad De Profundis. The question arises: is Betts having a breakdown, or is fashion? The answer, of course, is that these matters are not either/or. I
The Critic Magazine4 min read
Romeo Coates “Between You And Me …”
GIVING US HIS MODERN-DAY Falstaff (suddenly “Shakespeare’s ultimate gangster”, apparently), McKellen unfashionably relies on a fat suit for the role. Though such an approach is now often frowned upon by the obese/obese-conscious, old Gandalf deems hi
The Critic Magazine3 min read
Fighting Lies With Lies
PROPAGANDA AND DISINFORMATION AREamong the biggest threats facing liberal democracies today. The internet’s promise to democratise information, while partly fulfilled, has further polarised societies by nurturing ignorance and feeding conspiracy theo

Related Books & Audiobooks