Craftland

The Sunday Times Bestselling Journey Through Britain's Living Past

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Craftland

By: James Fox

Narrated by: James Fox

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Connect with Britain’s extraordinary heritage and be awakened to the beauty all around you with the Sunday Times bestselling, soul-stirring journey to Craftland that reveals a richer, more meaningful way of living - by award-winning historian and broadcaster James Fox.

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO NON-FICTION BOOK AWARD 2025*

For generations, what we made with our hands shaped who we were. The skills and knowledge passed down to us built our communities and defined our regions. And if you know where to look, they still do.

In Craftland, James Fox seeks out Britain’s last great craftspeople – those who are keeping our vanishing trades and traditions alive. Through them, we witness not only the living past but a deeper, more connected way of living today: one that is not yet lost and might still shape our future.

This soul-stirring journey shows that Britain is still a craft land, if only we have eyes to see it.

‘Inspiring’ Sunday Times
‘Wonderful’ Michael Morpurgo
‘Enchanting’ Amol Rajan
‘I read it in two gulps with delight’ Andrew Marr
‘This extraordinary book will leave you awestruck and inspired’ Xand van Tulleken
‘Beautiful, eye-opening and surprisingly moving – a treat to treasure’ Lucy Worsley
‘A joy’ Edmund de Waal

James FoxJames FoxVintage Digital

Art

Crafts & Hobbies

Customs & Traditions

Europe

Great Britain

Social Sciences

Inspiring

Highlander

Art Crafts & Hobbies Customs & Traditions Europe Great Britain Social Sciences Inspiring Highlander

Critic reviews

An impassioned and inspiring account of the extraordinary men and women still doing traditional artisanal work in Britain

Craftland is a book that shimmers with love for a dwindling world of meticulous, patient labour … Lyrical … Deftly written and well researched

Superb … A book with many highlights … [Fox] brings his critical intelligence to platform the usually silent process of mastering a craft. I read the book with admiration not only for the remarkable subjects individually, but also the human spirit that unites them all

If you want to know about Britain and yourself, read this book … This is a tremendous book that urges us – in spite of the seductions of crass modernity – to believe in the craftspeople, living and dead, who made us who we are.

Meet the weavers, watchmakers and wheelwrights keeping Britain’s noble craft traditions alive … Fox effortlessly persuades the reader about the superiority of all things crafted

Utterly enchanting (Amol Rajan)

This hugely absorbing book is so full of stories of crafts and craftspeople and communities, and of creativity over the ages. It’s such an important story to tell and told so compellingly. Wonderful (Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse)

A joy (Edmund de Waal)

Beautiful, eye-opening and surprisingly moving - a treat to treasure (Lucy Worsley, author of Jane Austen at Home)

Craftland offers insights into the future as well as the past. It is a close-up study of human work which arrives in a moment when we’re all trying to understand what that means (Ian Leslie, author of John and Paul)

Most relevant

Thoughtful evocative sad and yet hopeful. I would recommend this to anyone who has engaged with an object and felt wonder.