Beyond Nab End [Paperback]

William Woodruff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

The second volume of William Woodruff's memoirs starts with him having arrived in Poplar in the early 1930s. On spec, he turns up at a steel foundry and luckily gets a job. Eventually he decides to "get some leernin" and his first white-collar job starts for the Water Board. Continuing to pursue his studies, he finally wins a place at Ruskin College, Oxford. How the ex-steel worker became an Oxford academic concludes this second volume.

Editorial Reviews

Review

ROAD TO NAB END: 'A masterpiece' INDEPENDENT *A wonderful evocation of a vanished age' MAIL ON S. *'Once started, it is impossible to put this book down ... born writer with an eye for character & a natural way of writing' TLS *'Extraordinarily well written & vividly told, his book is rich in characters, facts, atmosphere & indomitable spirit. It is absolutely fascinating as a social as well as a family history' Eric Hobsbawm, GUARDIAN

From the Back Cover

"It is 1933 and William Woodruff, sixteen and passionately idealistic, is leaving the Lancashire of his childhood so vividly portrayed in The Road to Nab End. He is going to London, determined to make his way in the world. Set down in the East End, William discovers no streets paved with gold, but filthy tenements and squalor. His beer-swilling landlady has a predatory daughter and a tattooed son with whom he has to share his bed, sleeping head to toe. At night school, William discovers his love of learning. And as Mosley's blackshirts provoke street fighting, he witnesses the stoicism and courage of ordinary people in the face of impending war..."

"His writing gleams with life, reanimating characters, times, and places that seduce the listener. In this he's ably assisted by reader Sam Kelly, whose voice, brisk pace, and regional accent exude warmth, humor, and goodwill."
AudioFile --Audio File --This text refers to the Audible Audio Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0349116229
• ISBN-13: 978-0349116228
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,842 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Woodruff (1916-2008)

A world historian who, in his eighties, wrote two volumes of autobiography: The Road to Nab End: A Lancashire Childhood and Beyond Nab End, which became No 1 bestsellers in Britain.

Robert McCrum, writing about The Road to Nab End in the Observer, deemed the work 'A terrific story ... nostalgic, vivid and charming.'

William was born on the floor of a cotton mill in Blackburn, England during the First World War. His mother returned to work two days after his birth. His father was away fighting in France and there were four children to feed. By the time William's father came home to take up his life as a weaver, the Lancashire cotton textile industry was about to collapse. There followed years of hardship, unemployment and social unrest. From the age of six, through the years of the great depression of the early 1930s, William supplemented his family's income by delivering newspapers. He did go to school, but sometimes just to catch up on his sleep. At thirteen his education was considered complete and he became a delivery boy in a grocer's shop. His memoir, The Road to Nab End, is full of the joys of running free in a town full of unforgettable characters, it also conveys the mood of quiet desperation that eventually drove his family to a room in a derelict boarding house at Nab End.

'Once started, it is impossible to put this book down ... the author ... has the historian's gift for bringing to life a particular society at a particular time,' wrote Allan Bullock in the Times Literary Supplement.

At the age of sixteen, when he was a temporary laborer in a brickworks, he ran away to London. For two years he worked as a 'sand rat' in an iron foundry (wet sand was used in the casting process). Discovering a love of learning, he enrolled in night school. In 1936 he went to Oxford University with the aid of a London County Council Scholarship. Beyond Nab End is the totally refreshing and amusing story of the foundry worker's struggles to come to grips with the challenges and opportunities of an Oxford education.

'Hard times had bred resourcefulness and self-reliance. I knew by experience how to take setbacks. I also knew that nobody owed me a living. I was lucky to have been born and reared in Lancashire; doubly lucky to have been born poor,' he wrote.

The Second World War put William's education on hold for six years, he called them the years the locusts ate. He fought in North Africa and the Mediterranean region. His wartime experiences became the basis of his autobiographical novel Vessel of Sadness, a stark, yet poetic account of the battle for Anzio.

'Deceptively simple in language and imagery, frightening and upsetting, frank and unflinching in view, Vessel of Sadness helps us understand the nature of man in a world where there is as yet no alternative to the desolation of war' wrote Martin Blumenson in the preface to the book.

In 1946 William renewed his academic career. His research focused on world history. 'The Balkanization of the social sciences,' he wrote, 'has brought us to a state of ever-growing general ignorance and dehumanized science. Hence, I have stressed the central role, not of methods or theories or systems, but of humanity ... In seeking to understand the totality, complexity and diversity of the past, I shifted my focus from the parts to the whole; from the nation to the world.'

Impact of Western Man: A Study of Europe's Role in the World Economy, 1750-1960 was a seminal work which explored the interrelatedness of continents. In his Concise History of the Modern World: 1500 to the Present he brings together a lifetime's insights into how the present has come to be shaped by the past.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! What Courage Will Do For Your Life!, March 12, 2008

By 

Koalabearcare (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Beyond Nab End (Paperback)

This is a fast paced read. The story of an illiterate but hardworking young steel worker who had the courage to pull himself up from the level of a grunt worker all the way to Oxford University. This is fascinating English history, but more importantly it's a highly inspiring book which shows what courage will do for your life. Grab life by the horns! Grab this book. It will motivate you to live your own life to the max.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as it's for-runner, February 26, 2005

By 

S. Hebbron "S B H." (Leicester UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beyond Nab End (Audio Cassette)

The audio cassette, like the book it is derived from, is very interesting. It picks up William's story from precisely the point at which you leave it in "The Road to Nab End".

The early part of the story I found interesting, it certainly demonstrates that poverty in the early 20th century England was a nation wide issue, amongst the working classes; you could mistakenly believe it just effected the north had you only read the first book. William's journey through education and on to Oxford University, delighted me. But the book is politics heavy and if the history of the Labour movement is not your cup of tea, then you might find you lose your way a touch with this book. Keep on though, it is worth it, it just lacks the evocative magic of it's for runner for the most part. It does cleverly highlight pre-WW2 politics. Some of the early stories capture the old magic, particualry William's cyclehunt for his lost love in driving snow!