About Chris

Chris Arnot’s book Small Island by Little Train was shortlisted for the ‘outstanding travel-themed writing’ section of the Edward Stanford awards. “What sets it apart from the steamy pack is that, in its quiet way, it is very much a state-of-the-nation book,” wrote Marcus Berkmann in the Daily Mail. Chris became an author after writing features for national newspapers for over 25 years. A regular contributor to The Guardian, he also wrote for the Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer and The Times.

He co-wrote The Archers Archives for BBC Books and Aurum Press has republished his book on Britain’s Lost Cricket Grounds for the second time. “A wonderful book” [Steve James in the Daily Telegraph. “The best sports book of 2011 . . . Magnificent [Jim Holden in the Sunday Express]. “A coffee-table classic” [Frank Keating in The Guardian]. His other books include The Day We Won the Cup and Fields of Dreams (Step Beach) as well as Britain’s Lost Breweries and Beers (Aurum). Britain’s Lost Mines was described by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall as “an extraordinary gallery of lives and landscapes” and Britain’s Lost Cricket Festivals was shortlisted for the British Sports Book of the Year awards. Chris has also ghost-written Thanks Shanks: How Bill Shankly bought me an education, for head teacher David Kershaw. It was published by Takahe which brought out, Larkin About in Coventry, the city where a great poet grew up, and The Festive Soul of English Cricket, from Tunbridge Wells to Scarborough. His latest books are Closing Time, lockdown reflections on a “pubscrawling” past, and Coronation Streets, England Then and Now. Plus Libraries of a Lifetime, and why they need to stay open.