In a sweeping narrative that takes us from the earliest times to the present day, the book shows that the people of the north have shaped Britain and the world in unexpected ways. As you can imagine, packing that much history into 432 pages means it’s a bit of a whistle stop tour, so we never get into too much depth.

A visitor to some of the more affluent areas of the North East might find there is actually more of an affinity with kindred villages and towns in the south than there is within the varied communities of the north of England. Everyone knows about the north’s leading role in the Industrial Revolution, viewed by many economic historians as the key event in human history, but there is far more to it.

I just think this book is too small to try to cover so much history of such a large portion of the country. Going from the Ice Age to the present day in about 400 pages means you cannot cover anything in depth.

It started strong and I was fascinated by the accounts of how various kingdoms developed throughout the North, but eventually it just became a really long list of facts. From the North-South divide to why the bloody hell people just used to kill each other all the time.Northerners tells the formidable history of the North of England through the people and events that have shaped it – and the wider world – from the Ice Age to the post-Brexit era. In conclusion, Groom debates the north-south divide; a division that, he says, “casts the north as the back end of the English economy pantomime horse”.

There were also little asides that say something about what it is to be Northern that didn't align with my own perceptions of the North and Northern history.The north has exported some of sport's biggest names and defined the sound of generations, from the Beatles to Britpop. It could hardly be more topical, given tensions over Brexit, the “red wall” and forces threatening to drive the country apart. The only thing I wish could have been added would have been a chapter on the LGBT history of the North. The author Is keen to draw analogies between the past and present and with talk of ‘levelling-up’ on many politicians’ lips, it is interesting to do so.

It is a celebration of the diverse groups of people who have made the north their home as well as a recognition of the manifold events that have shaped not only the story of this region, but also that of the UK and beyond. War of the roses only included 13 weeks of fighting over 32 years and was between the family's of tudor and Lancaster.I appreciate having to condense thousands of years of history into around 330 or so pages represents something of a challenge, yet at times the more read more like something of a curated list of points of interest in Northern history, than a compelling narrative about the North. Neanderthals and Vikings, Central European Jews, Afro-Caribbeans and South Asians, have all played their part in the making and remaking of the north. This economic and cultural divide has existed throughout history with the industrial revolution adding to the image of sprawling townscapes billowing with smoke in contrast to the richer farmland of the south and the burgeoning of the London metropolis.