Disclosure : This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Half-Time: The Glorious Summer of 1934

Set against the backdrop of depression-era politics, 1934 was an annus mirabilis for English sport. Within just a few days of each other, Hedley Verity, Henry Cotton and Fred Perry all triumphed in their field. To a sporting audience still groaning through the quagmire left by the Great Depression, greedy for inspiring distractions, these heroic efforts made for a heady spectacle. England`s Ashes Test victory at Lord`s (later known as Verity`s match) saw Australia seeking revenge after the Bodyline series of 1932-33, but Verity bowled England to a famous innings victory, taking 15 wickets – 14 in one day! That same day, Cotton set out on the first qualifying round of the British Open. He went on to set a new Open record with a game so sparkling the Daily Express called it “the best round of golf ever played”. And within a fortnight, Perry had beaten Australia`s Jack Crawford in the Wimbledon final. England had an extraordinary national hat-trick. Together, these three contests and these three singular life stories weave a vivid portrait of an England that has faded from view.Half-Time celebrates a time of intense and rapid social and cultural change, a time that was both the last hurrah of the ancien regime and the stirring of something new. And moving through it, famous actors on a grand stage, are three very English heroes.

Related Products:

On Fire: My Story of England`s Summer to Remember Secret Wimbledon & Southfields Albion`s Glorious Ile: Middlesex to Huntingdonshire: Volume 3 Albion`s Glorious Ile: Shropshire to Buckinghamshyre: Volume 2 Albion`s Glorious Ile: Cornwal to Worestshyre: Volume 1 Albion`s Glorious Ile: Northamptonshyre to Westmorlande: Volume 4 Merckx: Half Man, Half Bike Great Waterways Journeys: 20 Glorious Routes Circling England, by Canal and River Man Behind the Bayeux Tapestry: Odo, William the Conqueror`s Half-Brother Albion`s Glorious Ile: A Hand-Colouring Book from the Songs of Poly-Olbion Wimbledon Past Half Bad English Cathedrals: England`s magnificent cathedrals and abbeys (Collins Little Books) Lost Lanes: 36 Glorious Bike Rides in Southern England The Golf Lover`s Guide to England Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan A Summer In Gascony Gin Glorious Gin: How Mother`s Ruin Became the Spirit of London Lost Lanes North: 36 Glorious bike rides in Yorkshire, the Lake District, Northumberland and northern England English Castles: England`s most dramatic castles and strongholds Half a Life The Glorious Geology of Iceland`s Golden Circle Urban Rambles: 20 Glorious Walks Through English Cities Year Without Summer: 1816 Summer in the Islands Final Whistle Stress, the Brain and Depression The Coast of Summer Wimbledon SW 1933 – 7.14 The House on Half Moon Street Summer: Vintage Minis Half A World Away The Savage Shore: Extraordinary Stories of Survival and Tragedy from the Early Voyages of Discovery Towards Another Summer Between Summer`s Longing and Winter`s End Underwater Australia Summer at Mount Hope Great Tales from English History: Cheddar Man to DNA National Theatre: All About Theatre Monsoon Summer