Yorkshire

In Yorkshire: There and Back, Andrew Martin celebrates Britain''s most charismatic county, looking back at the Yorkshire of his 1970s childhood and as it is today.

Journeying to every historic corner, Martin writes affectionally about its past, present and peculiarities. York is an evolving city of chocolate, trains, pubs and tourists. Scarborough should be viewed as the posh place it once was, with surprising secrets pertaining to Adolf Hitler and the sea. Leeds is seen as the ''hard'' town with its party goers and late-night provocateurs, but its indoor market never fails to offer a sense of quintessential Yorkshireness on a rainy Saturday afternoon, with milky tea served in beakers and the Leeds United result coming through by osmosis. And the Moors and Dales continue to boast beauty and danger alike.

Effortlessly entertaining and wonderfully detailed, Yorkshire: There and Back is a memoir, guide, and all-round appreciation of ''God''s own count