Colin Bateman, the cricket correspondent for the Daily Express, has written this hilarious account of what happens when he and a disparate group of friends (aged 19-71) set off for a 1100 mile charity bike ride around all 18 of the cricket counties of England and Wales. They had no idea what perils lay in wait around the next bend. And neither did the guest riders who joined them for a day here and there, and included former England cricketers Angus Fraser and Steve James, both of whom have contributions to make to this tale of two wheels.String Fellows reveals the tensions that build up when six good friends are taken out of their comfort zone for 16 days of pain and pleasure in the saddle. The story takes us around the by-ways of Britain, exploring its curious folk and folklore. It tells very personal tales of each county cricket club and what exactly makes Britain ‘grate’ when viewed from the saddle on another back-breaking climb into a cruel head-wind. You do not have to like cycling to cricket to enjoy this humorous tale but by the end of it you probably will.
For generations the traditional focus for those wishing to understand the roots of the modern world has been France on the eve of the Revolution. Porter certainly acknowledges France's importance, but here makes an overwhelming case for consideringBritain the true home of modernity - a country driven by an exuberance, diversity and power of invention comparable only to twentieth-century America. Porter immerses the reader in a society which, recovering from the horrors of the Civil War and decisively reinvigorated by the revolution of 1688, had emerged as something new and extraordinary - a society unlike any other in the world.