The Lost Folk : From the Forgotten Past to the Emerging Future of Folk

The Lost Folk : From the Forgotten Past to the Emerging Future of FolkAuthor: MacBeth, Lally Folk art Published on 19 June 2025 by FABER & FABER in the United Kingdom. Hardback 352 pages 161 x 243 x 36 602g 'An exceptionally thoughtful and beautifully written.' Maxine Peake'Erudite, questing and endlessly fascinating . . . the book that British folk has long needed.' Katherine May'A splendid museum full of strange and wonderful things.' Peter RossA fresh and engaging celebration of the customs, places, objects and

Author: MacBeth, Lally

Folk art

Published on 19 June 2025 by FABER & FABER in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 352 pages
161 x 243 x 36 | 602g

'An exceptionally thoughtful and beautifully written.' Maxine Peake'Erudite, questing and endlessly fascinating . . . the book that British folk has long needed.' Katherine May'A splendid museum full of strange and wonderful things.' Peter RossA fresh and engaging celebration of the customs, places, objects and peoples that make up what we know as 'folk' in Britain.

By its nature, folk is ephemeral: tricky to define, hard to preserve and even more difficult to resurrect. But folk culture is all around us; sitting in our churches, swinging from our pubs and dancing through our streets, patiently waiting to be discovered, appreciated, saved and cherished.

In The Lost Folk, Lally MacBeth is on a mission to breathe new life into these rapidly disappearing customs. She reminds us that folk is for everyone, and does not belong to an imagined, halcyon past, but is constantly being drawn from everyday lives and communities. As well as looking at what folk customs have meant in Britain's past, she shines a light on what they can and should mean as we move into the future - encouraging us to use the book as an inspiration, and become collectors and creators of our very own folk traditions.