Forty years ago the writer Paul Theroux hoisted his knapsack on his back and set off on a journey on foot around the coast of the United Kingdom; the effects of Thatcherism were being felt in earnest and the Falklands War was in progress. The Kingdom by the Sea, Theroux's grumpy, funny account of this journey, was published the following year (1983) and caused outrage in many of the seaside towns the author had passed through and seemingly written off.

In this episode the Backlisted team - Andy, John, Nicky and Tess - revisit the book, and a few books like it, to discuss whatever happened to travel writing; how Britain has changed since 1982; and what Theroux got right - and wrong - about his adopted country. In addition, John enjoys a more recent travelogue, Felicity Cloake's new book Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey (Mudlark); while Andy reads two poems from Fiona Benson's stunning new collection Ephemeron (Cape Poetry).

Books mentioned:

Paul Theroux - The Kingdom By the Sea; The Great Railway Bazaar; The Happy Isles of Oceania; The Mosquito Coast
Jonathan Raban - Coasting
Fiona Benson - Ephemeron
Felicity Cloake - Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey
George Orwell - The Road to Wigan Pier
W.G. Sebald - The Rings of Saturn
Roger Deakin - Waterlog
Iain Sinclair - Lights Out for the Territory
Bill Bryson - Notes From a Small Island
Daniel Defoe - A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain
Samuel Johnson & James Boswell - A Journey through the Western Isles of Scotland
Michael Bracewell - Souvenir
Anne Theroux - The Year of the End

Other links:

Paul Theroux on Arena: Blackpool (BBC, 1989)
Auberon Waugh reviews The Kingdom By the Sea in the New York Times
Review of The Year of the End by Anne Theroux - Rachel Cooke (Guardian, Jul 2021)