Now Then: A Biography of Yorkshire

Written by Rick Broadbent

Narrated by Stewart Crank

From the perspective of an exiled Yorkshireman this bestselling, award winning author returns to his native county to discover and reveal its soul.

Now Then is a biographical mosaic of Yorkshire. Rick Broadbent, an award-wining author and exiled Yorkshireman, goes in search of the soul of England's biggest county and produces an all-encompassing portrait of a place that has been victimised and stereotyped since the days of Williams the Conqueror. Incorporating social history, memoir, reportage and author interviews, Now Then paints a picture of what it means to be from Yorkshire - both now and back then.

Now Then is not a hagiography and Broadbent visits devastated mining communities, an inner-city homeless shelter and the county's most isolated sheep farm, as well as examining the truth about well-known Yorkshire figures and institutions. From the Bronte sisters and Marks & Spencer to the Yorkshire pudding, accent and Ripper, this is a funny, wise and searching account of the county that gave the world its first football club and its last witch-burning. Ultimately, this is an affectionate but unsparing look at a county, its people and their flinty vowels. It is about the real Yorkshire and its daily life, as well as Dracula and Geoffrey Boycott.

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Oct 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9781004139477

Rick Broadbent

Rick Broadbent is an award-winning journalist and author. He has worked at The Times for 10 years and has written nine books. His previous titles on motorcycle racing include That Near-Death Thing, winner at the British Sports Book Awards 2013 and shortlisted for the William Hill prize, and Ring of Fire, also shortlisted for the William Hill Prize. He was shortlisted for the William Hill prize for third time in 2016 for Endurance: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Emil Zátopek