{"product_id":"2026100012572-secondhand-wish-you-were-here-the-english-at-play","title":"Wish You Were Here: The English At Play","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Yellowed\u003cbr\u003eMarkings: Previous owner\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA wry and affectionate portrait of a nation at leisure, Wish You Were Here: The English at Play captures the quintessential rituals, quirks, and unspoken codes of the English in their most unguarded moments — not at work or at war, but at play. Through Patrick Ward's candid and masterfully composed black-and-white photographs, the book chronicles the full, glorious spectrum of English recreation: from seaside donkey rides and village fêtes to country shows and Sunday afternoons in the park, all rendered with a warmth that borders on the anthropological. Accompanying the imagery, journalist and author James Cameron provides a sharp, witty, and deeply perceptive commentary that gives voice to the scenes Ward so deftly frames.\n\nTogether, Ward and Cameron present a document that is as much a sociological study as it is a celebration — one that holds a gently comic mirror up to English identity and its peculiar relationship with fun, class, and communal life. The result is a book that transcends the photo-essay format, becoming instead a lasting cultural artefact of mid-to-late twentieth century Britain. For anyone who has ever marvelled at the English capacity to queue patiently, to cheer politely, or to enjoy themselves with an air of quiet, determined dignity — this is required reading.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51022576419035,"sku":"2026100012572-SECONDHAND","price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/d973c738-a592-4e33-accd-5dc1d119af51.png?v=1793665166","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100012572-secondhand-wish-you-were-here-the-english-at-play","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}