Portillo's Hidden History of Britain

Portillo’s Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its "lost" or abandoned buildings. The chapters will cover a variety of historical themes: Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, Defence and Warfare, Manufacturing Industry, Transport and Communication, and Entertainment and Leisure. Using a combination of his own investigations and archive research, plus memories and quotations from the contributors he interviewed for the series, Michael will explain what the buildings were used for and by whom, why they were abandoned, and what they can tell us about our past. For example, learn what the ruins of London Road Fire and Police Station in Manchester reveal about the history of the emergency services in the last 100 years, and ow Bradford’s art deco Odeon cinema encapsulates a century of film-making and movie-going. The walls of all these buildings have ears, and Michael’s mission is to find out what they heard. With evocative text that brings each location vividly to life, Michael describes the building and its activities in its heyday and compares this past life with its faded grandeur or melancholic abandonment seen today. Filled with fascinating insights and observations, his narrative provides a compelling and original perspective on Britain’s social, military, and industrial history. Complementing the text are 32 pages of atmospheric and informative photographs, including many "then" and "now" images of the locations, which pointedly juxtapose their former glory with their present-day destitution.

Michael Portillo worked for a shipping company before joining the Conservative Research Department in 1976, where he spent three years. In 1984 he was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Enfield Southgate. He was an MP for nearly 20 years and held three ministerial positions in the cabinet: Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Secretary of State for Employment and Secretary of State for Defence. Since retiring from active politics in 2005, Michael has pursued a successful media career. He is a regular guest on BBC1’s weekly political discussion program This Week, and has made documentaries on a range of subjects, including BBC2’s Great British Railway Journeys, the accompanying book of which has sold over 41,000 copies.