10 July 2019

Thomas Harding : "Legacy" on 5th Sept 19

Thomas Harding will talk about his new book LEGACY: One Family, a Cup of Tea, and the Company who took on the World.

     A panoramic new history of modern Britain, as told through the story of one extraordinary family, and one ground-breaking company, J Lyons

‘I absolutely love this book’- Tracy Oberman

‘It is an astonishing story, beautifully and lovingly told’ - Allan Little

‘A tour de force.’ - Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller

‘Endlessly fascinating and hard to putdown. I read it all in one sitting.’ - Rabbi Julia Neuberger

‘Meticulously researched’- Kipper Williams

‘Fascinating, impressively researched, authoritative’ - Anne J Kershen

In the early 1800s Lehmann Gluckstein and his family escaped the pogroms of Eastern Europe and made their way to Whitechapel in the East End of London. There, starting with nothing, they worked tirelessly to pull themselves out of the slums, creating a small tobacco factory that quickly grew to become the largest catering company in the world:J.Lyons.      

For over a century, Lyons was everywhere. Its restaurants and corner houses were on every high street, its coffee and tea in every cup, its products in every home. By bringing the world to the British people, the company transformed the way we eat, drink and are entertained – democratising luxury and globalising our tastes. But it was a victory that was hard-won – a story of the virtue of hard work, perseverance and an indomitable spirit in the face of repeated obstacles: poverty, hatred and dismissal. It is a tale that is rarely told, of an immigrant family’s journey from rags to riches: the story of the British Dream.

Legacy charts the rise and fall of one of the most influential dynasties in British history through the lives of five astonishing generations, bound together by an unbreakable code. This is a sweeping yet intimate work of history, filled with stories of sacrifice and selflessness, betrayal and personal tragedy, Empire and its cost, and success on an unimaginable scale. It is also an illuminating new exploration of Britain and its place in the world, from the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.

Tickets £10 from the library (020 7431 1266 except Monday)  and on line from www.wegottickets.com - link HERE

Books will be available for signing.

All proceeds to KCL to keep the library open to all and free to use.