Back in the Day cover art

Back in the Day

The deeply affecting, first ever memoir by beloved national treasure Melvyn Bragg

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Back in the Day

By: Melvyn Bragg
Narrated by: Melvyn Bragg
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About this listen

 * AN OBSERVER AND DAILY MAIL "BOOKS OF 2022" PICK *

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world.

In this captivating memoir, Melvyn Bragg recalls growing up in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton, from his early childhood during the war to the moment he had to decide between staying on or spreading his wings.
This is the tale of a boy who lived in a pub and expected to leave school at fifteen yet won a scholarship to Oxford. Derailed by a severe breakdown when he was thirteen, he developed a passion for reading and study - though that didn't stop him playing in a skiffle band or falling in love.

It is equally the tale of the people and place that formed him. Bragg indelibly portrays his parents and local characters from pub regulars to vicars, teachers and hardmen, and vividly captures the community-spirited northern town - steeped in the old ways but on the cusp of post-war change. A poignant elegy to a vanished era as well as the glories of the Lake District, it illuminates what made him the writer, broadcaster and champion of the arts he is today.

(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2022 Melvyn Bragg Limited Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Heartfelt Inspiring Memoir War

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Critic reviews

A masterly evocation of his early life in Cumbria . . . Bragg's book, the best thing he's ever written, imbues the overused literary adjective "piercing" with real meaning . . . I can't hope to capture, in the space I have here, this book's extraordinary geography, let alone its strange, inchoate beauty: the way that Bragg, in his struggle fully to explain his meaning, so often hits on something wise and even numinous (when he does, it's as if a bell sounds). All I can say is that I loved it (Rachel Cooke)
A childhood memoir bursting with affection and gruff love . . . a charming account of a lost era, full of details and often lyrical descriptions of people and places . . . If it sounds idealised, it isn't. Bragg is clear-eyed about the 'harshness under the surface' . . . a fascinating and often moving portrait of a time, a place and a working-class boy who fell in love with words and made a distinguished career out of using them extremely well. (Christina Patterson)
A moving portrait of a lost England . . . As a feat of dramatised recollection Back in the Day is remarkable. The Boys' Own scrapes and japes - an apple orchard raid, a gang hideout dug into a river bank - come alive like set pieces from his beloved Jennings. (Jasper Rees)
Utterly captivating . . . [Bragg] bears his audience in mind, never writing a dull or self-indulgent sentence and thinking about and celebrating other people on every page . . . it's full of rapture and the joy of everything . . . there are darker sides to the story, and they too kept me gripped . . . Bragg is such a persuasive writer, with such clear recall, that he even recreates the excitement of a sixth-form English lesson. I got totally caught up with his falling in love with learning and knowledge.' (Ysenda Maxtone Graham)
Wonderfully rich, endearing and unusual . . . a balanced, honest picture . . .The smoky, damp and introverted world in which livestock are still sold in the town centre, and horses are only slowly ceding to motor cars, is brought to life with subtle skill. Wigton's streets become soot-streaked theatre for a huge cast of town characters for whom the author shows a convincing, rather than patronising, affection . . . If any of our current political leaders wants to create a vision that actually makes people want to vote, they could do worse than prescribe this to their MPs as required summer reading. (Richard Benson)
Beautifully written, lyrical and romantic, touching and tender . . . I enjoyed and admired it all. (Hunter Davies)
Rawly truthful and engaging . . . There is a blissful absence of cliché in this personal odyssey, which is at the same time a fascinating essay in social history. (Michael Church)
Disarmingly poignant . . . In other hands this tale would easily be the stuff of cliché, except that Bragg fills every memory and anecdote with both meaning and feeling . . . He has written some 40 books and this lovely memoir is surely the most affecting of them all. (Michael Prodger)
All stars
Most relevant
This is a really good book and especially good that the author is narrating himself, there are times when he is clearly very emotional and this adds very much to the impact of the story. This is also particularly interesting for me being from Wigton myself, knowing the author and many of the characters mentioned, as well as all the backstreets and lanes of Wigton, and what it is to be from the town. I was particularly interested to hear about his parents, and their story.

Excellent book and a familiar landscape to me

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It’s a pity Melvyn chose to narrate this himself. Might just be me but the nasal thing is quite annoying and makes some passages very hard to hear. Sorry Melvyn.

The narrator

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I'd read a number of very positive reviews of the book itself, and when I saw this was read by Melvyn Bragg himself I bought it straight away. of course, he reads it perfectly, as you'd expect from his own memoir!

There are moving and clear descriptions of the town and the people he grew up with. it feels fairly honest, and not merely a "romantic view of the good old days."

Although I'm from North of the Border, I know Cumbria a bit (through Border TV and holidays in the Lake District) so this added to my interest.

However, about 2/3 of the way through I found myself getting a bit bored with some of the details. it picked up for me when he got on with studying -. but that probably tells you more about me than about the book.

it is certainly interesting and a great performance. But, as with all memoirs I suppose, you need to want to know what happens next. to keep you going in the dry parts.

Fascinating, with beautiful detail... but a bit lo

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I really did enjoy listening to this book for the content however I feel the narration of it did let it down. It did not bring out the best of the book.
Melvin's narration was at times quite difficult to understand.
It was also delivered in a monontous tone when a livelier delivery would have made such a difference.

So enjoyable

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I was really looking forward to this for nostalgia value. I gave it a good go but unfortunately had to give up due to the narrator.
I'm so sorry Melvyn, your writing is great but I just couldn't listen to the narration. it was far too fast and mumbling, it was all I could do not to fall asleep. It became a monotonous background noise and I found I wasn't listening to the words at all.
Real shame.

Really wanted to enjoy this

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