Craftland: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades

£12.95

Available for Pre-order. Due September 2026.

Craftland: A Journey Through Britain’s Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades Author: Format: Paperback / softback First Published: Published By: Vintage Publishing
string(3) "368"
Pages: 368 Language: English ISBN: 9781529924176 Category:

**SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR** **SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION AWARD 2025** Britain was once a craft land. For generations what we made with our hands shaped our identities, built our communities and defined our regions. Craftland chronicles the vanishing skills and traditions that used to govern every aspect of life on these shores. ‘Impassioned and inspiring’ SUNDAY TIMES ** BOOK OF THE WEEK ** ‘Full of stories of crafts and craftspeople and communities, and creativity over the ages. Wonderful’ MICHAEL MORPURGO ‘Beautiful, eye-opening and surprisingly moving – a treat to treasure’ LUCY WORSLEY From the Isles of Scilly to the Scottish Highlands, James Fox travels the length of Britain to seek out the country’s last great craftspeople. Stepping inside the workshops of blacksmiths and wheelwrights, cutlers and coopers, bellfounders and watchmakers, we glimpse not only our past but another way of life: one that is not yet lost and might still shape our future. For as long as there are humans, there will be craft. It is all around us, hiding in plain sight, animating even the most ordinary things. Fox shows that Britain is still a craft land, if only we have eyes to see it. ‘Extraordinary … will leave you awestruck’ XAND VAN TULLEKEN ‘Brimming with fresh news and seasoned with hope. I read it in two gulps with delight’ ANDREW MARR

Weight0.5 kg
Author

Editor
Photographer
Format

Illustrators
Publisher

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.

An impassioned and inspiring account of the extraordinary men and women still doing traditional artisanal work in Britain * Sunday Times, *Book of the Week* * Craftland is a book that shimmers with love for a dwindling world of meticulous, patient labour … Lyrical … Deftly written and well researched * Guardian * 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 * New Statesman * 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. * Spectator * 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 * Mail on Sunday * Utterly enchanting -- Amol Rajan * BBC Radio 4 Today * 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

Author Biography

James Fox is an academic and multi-award-winning, BAFTA-nominated broadcaster, known for his many acclaimed BBC documentaries. He is Director of Studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and Creative Director of the Hugo Burge Foundation, a charity dedicated to supporting the arts and crafts across Britain. He is also the author of the celebrated The World According to Colour: A Cultural History.