Sunday Best

Travels Through the Day of Rest

Daniel Gray

$29.99

Hardback

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English

HarperNorth
29 July 2025

Memoirs; Literary essays; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; 21st century history: from c 2000 -; Social & cultural history; Society & Social Sciences

An evocative celebration of the seventh day in all its rich variety

Closed shops and roast dinners. Bulky newspapers and the hum of lawnmowers. Strolls to nowhere in particular and visiting snoozing grandparents. Television theme tunes cueing bath time and a sudden dread of the looming week ahead…

Through an assortment of rituals and activities, Sundays came to be the unique day in our week – whether tedious, pleasant or somewhere in-between. But how did they change over time? Has anything interesting ever happened on a Sunday? Have we forgotten how to do Sunday? And, in our rushed modern lives, should we now try to recapture that distinctive, unhurried Sunday feel?

Offering answers to those questions and more through a mix of travelogue and social history, Sunday Best entertainingly charts the story of what author Daniel Gray argues is the People’s Day. Told through Sundays whiled away in places from the Hebrides to Hyde Park – via Sunderland, Scarborough, The Peak District and beyond – Gray’s latest book is a charming journey in time and place. Sunday Best offers nostalgia, people’s history and affectionate, absorbing writing – a book drenched in the scent of gravy and summoning the faint sound of church bells.

By: Daniel Gray
Imprint: HarperNorth
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 204mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 320g
ISBN: 9780008628925
ISBN 10: 0008628920
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 29 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Daniel Gray is a writer, broadcaster and magazine editor from Stockton-on-Tees. He's published a host of critically acclaimed books on football and Scottish history, edits Nutmeg magazine and presents the When Saturday Comes podcast. He's previous presented for HistoryHit and written for the BBC. He can be found on Twitter as @d_gray_writer

Reviews for Sunday Best: Travels Through the Day of Rest

Praise for Daniel Gray’s work… 'Lyrical, amiable and educational.' Stuart Maconie 'Daniel Gray writes with great humour and takes tender delight in the people he meets.' Peter Ross ‘Delightfully written. Countless little gems of recognition and satisfaction, many of them very funny. A lovely little thing.’ Daily Telegraph 'Engaging … Sprinkled with a digestible amount of social history and commentary.' Daily Mail ‘Gray is a master of observing and amplifying the things we love … but wonder if anyone else even notices.’ The Times ‘Gray writes like Lowry paints. Superb’ BBC Lancashire ‘A damn good read.’ Val McDermid ‘Gray is a master at finding the universal in the local and the profound in the so-called everyday.' Ian McMillan