History Corner: The Cornwall Sabbatical by Jonathan E. Cox

   Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from The Book Guild via #Netgalley, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

After thirty years abroad, Jonathan Cox, a Cornishman and former journalist, returns to Cornwall to study at Falmouth University, accompanied by his Swiss wife, Marlis.

The Cornwall Sabbatical is a humorous chronicle of their experience as they explore picture-perfect fishing villages and coastal coves and crisscross a granite landscape of rugby posts, old mine stacks and the barely discernible ruins of an ancient Celtic nation. The gritty Cornwall of his childhood has gentrified into one of the most desirable locations in the UK and become a magnet for Michelin restaurants even as sharp inequalities remain.

A touching story about a lost way of life, The Cornwall Sabbatical reveals how Cornwall’s unique geology, climate, natural history and position as the end of the known world for much of antiquity has created a pioneering libertarian spirit and distinctive culture that is timeless.

Review:

this is a book that is easily read chapter at a time, as each one deals with a different location in Cornwall that the author and his wife visit, while living in Cornwall to allow hoim to attend university there, to become a writer. paty history lesson, part travelogue, part current conditions (economic and social culture), each chatpter gives you a little window into the sould of the inhabitants, as if you were really there. Having said that, some chapters are really heaving on economics and stats, and that is where the book lags badly. It's an interesting look at cornwall, it's just can't make up its mind what type of book it is.

About the Author:

Born in Penzance, Jonathan E. Cox is a former Fleet Street journalist and international news correspondent. The Cornwall Sabbatical is his first, but hopefully not last, book. To make ends meet as a writer, he also works as a consumer analyst.