SUNDAY BEST: Travels Through the Day of Rest

An evocative celebration of the seventh day in all its rich variety. Closed shops and roast dinners. Bulky newspapers and the hum of lawnmowers. Strolls to nowhere in particular and visiting snoozing grandparents. Television theme tunes cueing bath time and a sudden dread of the looming week ahead. Through an assortment of rituals and activities, Sundays came to be the unique day in our week - whether tedious, pleasant or somewhere in-between. But how did they change over time? Has anything interesting ever happened on a Sunday? Have we forgotten how to do Sunday? And, in our rushed modern lives, should we now try to recapture that distinctive, unhurried Sunday feel? Offering answers to those questions and more through a mix of travelogue and social history, Sunday Best entertainingly charts the story of what author Daniel Gray argues is the People's Day. Told through Sundays whiled away in places from the Hebrides to Hyde Park - via Sunderland, Scarborough, The Peak District and beyond - Gray's latest book is a charming journey in time and place. It offers nostalgia, people's history and affectionate, absorbing writing - a book drenched in the scent of gravy and summoning the faint sound of church bells. Includes a wonderful chronology of Sunday law and legislation such as that in 995 the first king of England Athelstan outlaws Sunday trading and that in 1388 playing tennis and football was outlawed, 1994 saw shops allowed to open on Sundays, and in 1995 pubs followed with full drinking sessions becoming possible for those who wish to skip roast at home in favour of a pub beer and crisp selections. 212 pages.