EusReads

Book Review: Cream Teas, Traffic Jams and Sunburn by Brian Viner

There’s no good reason why I bought this book, except that I’ve bought and enjoyed a book about the history of neighbours in England and the word “Cream Teas” is in the title. This amusingly named book is a fascinating exploration into the topic of the Britsh on holiday – both domestically and abroad.

Divided into two sections, Viner looks at topics such as:

  • Food on holiday
  • Girls’ weekends and boys’ weekends away
  • Camping
  • Blackpool
  • Passports
  • Overseas holidays

And much more. The topics can feel a bit haphazard, since the book is arranged topically rather than by any sort of chronological order, but Viner manages to connect the chapters with an anecdote.

Honestly, I thought this book was delightful! Viner has a gift for combining his personal experiences (including lots of talk about his other books) with references to books or movies or historical events. For example, the chapter on holiday resorts (e.g. Butlins) starts with a story about his friend’s experiences in the then-Soviet Union, his own family’s experiences at Center Parcs before moving to a history of holiday camps (from The Delicious History of the Holiday by Professor Fred Inglis) to an interview with Paul McCartney about holiday camps. It’s all very conversational, often funny, and I was left impressed with how much Viner seems to know in order to be able to reference it. In fact, I’ve got two books I want to read now – Swallows and Amazons (which I’ve heard about when reading about children’s fiction) and In Search of England, a travel book from 1927.

By drawing on both his and his friend’s experiences of holidays, Viner manages to write an engaging history of a generation of British children’s holidays. While the book is very light and easy to read, I thought there were a few interesting insights – like how we relax our vigilance on holiday (Viner shares a hair-raising anecdote about a terrible fall his son had) and the rise of the weekend away with friends (even for married couples).

Overall, this is a fun and interesting book. I’m not British so I can’t say that I saw myself in the descriptions of the people mentioned, but Viner writes about this topic with a lot of affection and humour and I enjoyed myself greatly reading this.

What do you think?