Now Then A Biography of Yorkshire

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.

Rick Broadbent has written for The Times for 20 years and authored and ghost-written 12 books. He has been shortlisted for the William Hill Prize three times and has won a British Sports Book award. His books have included a biography of Emil Zatopek, a Czech Olympic hero and political activist, and That Near-Death Thing, about the most dangerous motorcycle race in the world. Rick was born in Leeds and now lives in Dorset.