Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain

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Review ------ 'Wonderful . . . If you've ever wondered who gave planning permission for the serried ranks of concrete blocks you pass on the way to work, read Concretopia and lay the foundations of a new way of looking at modern Britain.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Charming . . . Concretopia could pleasingly be read by anyone in Britain who lives in a postwar Modernist structure and has a love-hate relationship with it. Part-travelogue, part-history, Grindrod's account walks us through in touchingly precise detail the decisions that led to such buildings as the BT Tower, the Barbican, Coventry Cathedral and the blocks of New Ash . . . We don't think of architectural beauty as key to well-being and yet, as this book shows us, it profoundly is.' ALAIN DE BOTTON, THE TIMES 'Concretopia is almost certainly the first history of the post-war modernist project in British cities and towns, and it is without doubt the first to try and address a non-architectural, non-spet audience ... [It's] about the best history of the intersection of post-war architecture and politics (often with a small 'p' ) that you could hope for -- personal, erudite, even-handed and driven by a subtle, but still present underlying anger at the dismantling of the Welfare State under the dubious banner of 'austerity'.' OWEN HATHERLEY 'Fascinating throughout ... does a magnificent job of making historical sense of things I had never really understood or appreciated ... This is a brilliant book: a vital vade mecum for anyone (not just students of architecture and town planning) interested in Britain's 20th-century history' James Hamilton-Paterson, author of EMPIRE OF THE CLOUDS 'Fascinating . . . it's all here, from the Poulson scandal to abandoned ring-roads and vanishing industry . . . A great in into the way things turned out the way they did.' WALLPAPER MAGAZINE 'Timely and pertinent . . . Grindrod is inventive with words and frequently alights on delightful and perceptive images . . . Particularly fascinating are chapters on the rebuilding of Coventry; the development of the South Bank; the creation of the Barbican (using concrete expensively pitted by hand using pickaxes); the replacement of the Glasgow Gorbals with new estates; the hilltop city that is Park Hill, Sheffield, recently renovated; the sad demise of low-rise, family-friendly 'Span' housing; the devastating 1968 collapse of the system-built tower block, Ronan Point; and the the tale of architect-developer John Poulson, who went to jail for corruption over building contracts.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Never has a trip from Croydon and back again been so fascinating. John Grindrod's witty and informative tour of Britain is a total treat, and will win new converts to stare in awe (or at least enlightened comprehension) at Crap towns and Boring Postcards...' CATHERINE CROFT, Director, Twentieth Century Society 'With a cast of often unsung heroes -- and one or two villains -- Concretopia is a lively, surprising account of how Britain came to look the way it does' Will Wiles, author of CARE OF WOODEN FLOORS 'A powerful and personal history of postwar Britain. Grindrod shows how pre-fab housing, masterplans, and tower blocks are as much part of our national story as Tudorbethan suburbs and floral clocks. It's like eavesdropping into a conversation between John Betjeman, J.G. Ballard and Jonathan Meades.' LEO HOLLIS, author of CITIES ARE GOOD FOR YOU --... About the Author ---------------- John Grindrod grew up in Croydon in the 1970s and has worked as a bookseller and publisher for twenty-five years. He has been published in the Twentieth Century Society magazine, has co-written and edited a book about TV, Shouting at the Telly, and contributed to a book on music, Hang the DJ. He runs the website dirtymodernscoundrel.blogspot.co.uk and can be contacted on Twitter @Grindrod.