Common People cover art

Common People

The History of An English Family

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About this listen

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Common People: The History of An English Family by Alison Light, read by Caroline Laskowska.

Family history is a massive phenomenon of our times but what are we after when we go in search of our ancestors? Beginning with her grandparents, Alison Light moves between the present and the past, in an extraordinary series of journeys over two centuries, across Britain and beyond.

Epic in scope and deep in feeling, Common People is a family history but also a new kind of public history, following the lives of the migrants who travelled the country looking for work. Original and eloquent, it is a timely rethinking of who the English were - but ultimately it reflects on history itself, and on our constant need to know who went before us and what we owe them.

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Critic reviews

Light writes beautifully. With such colour and with perception and lyricism she clads the past....Common People is part memoir, part thrilling social history of the England of the Industrial Revolution, but above all a work of quiet poetry and insight into human behaviour. It is full of wisdom. (Melanie Reid)
This book is a substantial achievement: its combination of scholarship and intelligence is, you may well think, the best monument you could have to all those she has rescued from time's oblivion.
Evocatively written...a thrilling and unnerving read
Exquisite...Barely a page goes by without something fascinating on it, betraying Light's skill in winkling out the most relevant or moving aspects of her antecedents' lives, which echo through the generations.
[A] short and beautifully written meditation on family and mobility.
Intellectually sound and relevant...a refreshingly modern way of thinking about our past.
Light [is skilled] in probing dark corners of her ancestry and exposing their historical meaning...packed with humanity.
Beautifully written and exhaustively researched, Alison Light makes her family speak for England.
A remarkable achievement...should become a classic.
All stars
Most relevant
Great read for anyone into family history or genealogy.
This shows the ups and downs of an ordinary working class family ; some who do a little better, others who are in and out of the workhouse due to lack of work , illness & death of the wage earner. Sensitively read & full of interesting facts about sailors, artisan trades & church attendance through the centuries in Portsmouth area UK
Highly recommend for anyone interested in history & especially family history.

Family history through the ages

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A really interesting listen but quite hard to follow without a visual family tree to refer back to!

Interesting

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Some parts I loved other parts failed to hold my attention. I ended up not understanding the tenuous link between the family tree and the vast deviation in material.

mixed feelings about this book

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lighting up English social history through Alison Light's generations of family. irresistibly interesting. Great listen!

fabulous family history

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