[PDF] So You Think You Know About Britain eBook

Author : Danny Dorling
Publisher : Constable
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 47,45 MB
Release : 2011-03-17
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1849018081

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When it comes to immigration, the population explosion, the collapse of the family, the north-south divide, devolution, or the death of the countryside, common wisdom tells us that we are in trouble; however, this is far from the truth. In his brilliant anatomy of contemporary Britain, leading geographer Daniel Dorling dissects the nation and reveals unexpected truths about the way we live today, contrary to what you might read in the news: The human mosaic: Most children who live above the fourth floor of tower blocks in England are Black or Asian. The higher you go in a building, the darker skinned children tend to be. Relationships: The more times a person's heart is broken, the nearer they will tend to move to the sea. If you want to find a good man to marry head for the countryside. North and South: People in the south move home on average every seven years and job every eight years. This is a year faster than in the north of England, but a year slower than is usual in Scotland. Optimum population: Emmigrant nation - There are twice as many grandchildren of British-born people living over-seas as there are people living in Britain who have grandparents who were themselves born abroad. The problem now is more about getting pregnant than a population explosion and we need more immigration not less. Immigration: Muslims are far more likely to marry non-Muslims in Britain than Christians are to marry non-Christians. The elderly: Most people in Britain never live long enough to experience being burgled. In some areas you would have to live for over five hundred years to have an 'evens' chance of being a crime victim. Town and Country - divided since the enclosures: Step children are most commonly found in the most leafy of idyllic rural villages. Nuclear family homogeneity is now an inner city phenomena. Why are there no cheap homes in the countryside any more? Transport: The greatest threat to life in Britain of all those aged under 40 is the car. For adults aged over 24 they most likely die as a driver, over 15 as a passenger, and over age 4 as a pedestrian. Work: There is no need for us to work until we drop - all could retire early. Reviews for Injustice: "A geographer maps the injustices of Selfish Capitalism with scholarly detachment." --Oliver James. "Dorling provides the brain-cleaning software we need to begin creating a happier society. " --Richard Wilkinson author of The Spirit Level.

Author : Lynne Olson
Publisher : Random House
Page : 686 pages
File Size : 39,5 MB
Release : 2010-02-02
Category : History
ISBN : 158836982X

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“Engaging and original, rich in anecdote and analysis, this is a terrific work of history.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion The acclaimed author of Troublesome Young Men reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in London; and John Gilbert Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain. Each man formed close ties with Winston Churchill—so much so that all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister’s family. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Lynne Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and reluctant American public to back the British at a critical time. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an author swiftly becoming one of the finest in her field. Praise for Citizens of London “Brilliantly bursting with beautiful prose, Olson flutters our hearts by capturing the essence of the public and private lives of those who faced death, touched the precipice, hung on by their eyelids, and saved the free world from destruction by the forces of evil.”—Bill Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State “If you don't think there's any more to learn about the power struggles, rivalries and dramas—both personal and political—about the US-British aliance in the World War II years, this book will change your mind—and keep you turning the pages as well.”—Jeff Greenfield, Senior Political Correspondent, CBS News “Three fascinating Americans living in London helped cement the World War II alliance between Roosevelt and Churchill. Lynne Olson brings us the wonderful saga of Harriman, Murrow, and Winant. A triumph of research and storytelling, Citizens of London is history on an intimate level.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein

Author : Otto English
Publisher :
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 20,75 MB
Release : 2021-08-03
Category :
ISBN : 9781787396401

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A fun, authoritative and alternative history of the world that exposes some of the biggest lies ever told and how they've been used over time.

Author : Ben Crystal
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 224 pages
File Size : 15,19 MB
Release : 2010-10-01
Category : Humor
ISBN : 1780740409

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An original and funny take on what it is to be British The A to Z guide to your own laughable behaviour Explore the oddities of the British psyche with this informative and witty illustrated guide. From small-talk to superiority, from cricket to condiments, and curry to class, when wandering lonely through the clouds of British behaviour this is the perfect companion. Discover the fate of a pitbull named ASBO, find out why we get bank holidays when we do, and learn why it's better to drive on the left. With 40 hilarious illustrations from acclaimed cartoonist Ed McLachlan, this is the perfect book for a nation that loves to laugh at itself.

Author : David Edgerton
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,24 MB
Release : 2018
Category : 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999
ISBN : 9781846147753

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It is usual to see the United Kingdom as an island of continuity in an otherwise convulsed and unstable Europe; its political history a smooth sequence of administrations, a story of building a welfare state and coping with decline. But what if Britain's history was approached from a different angle? What if we wrote about it with as we might write the history of Germany, say, or the Soviet Union, as a story of power, and of transformation? David Edgerton's major new book breaks out of the confines of traditional British national history to reveal an unfamiliar place, subject to radical discontinuities. Out of a liberal, capitalist, genuinely global power of a unique kind, there arose from the 1940s a distinct British nation. This was committed to internal change, making it much more like the great continental powers. From the 1970s it became bound up both with the European Union and with foreign capital in new ways. Such a perspective produces new and refreshed understanding of everything from the nature of British politics to the performance of British industry. Packed with surprising examples and arguments, The Rise and Fall of the British Nationgives us a grown-up, unsentimental history, one which is crucial at a moment of serious reconsideration for the country and its future.

Author : Mary-Ann Ochota
Publisher : Frances Lincoln
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 39,63 MB
Release : 2020-09-29
Category : History
ISBN : 0711253463

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In this beautifully illustrated book, anthropologist and broadcaster Mary-Ann Ochota unearths more than fifty of Britains most intriguing ancient places and artefacts and explores the mysteries behind them.

Author : Stig Abell
Publisher : John Murray
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 23,88 MB
Release : 2018-05-03
Category : History
ISBN : 1473658403

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'Absorbing . . . an intelligent and clear-eyed account of much that goes on in our country' Sunday Times Getting to grips with Great Britain is harder than ever. We are a nation that chose Brexit, rejects immigration but is dependent on it, is getting older but less healthy, is more demanding of public services but less willing to pay for them, is tired of intervention abroad but wants to remain a global authority. We have an over-stretched, free health service (an idea from the 1940s that may not survive the 2020s), overcrowded prisons, a military without an evident purpose, an education system the envy of none of the Western world. How did we get here and where are we going? How Britain Really Works is a guide to Britain and its institutions (the economy, the military, schools, hospitals, the media, and more), which explains just how we got to wherever it is we are. It will not tell you what opinions to have, but will give you the information to help you reach your own. By the end, you will know how Britain works - or doesn't. 'Stig Abell is an urbane, and often jaunty guide to modern Britain, in the mould of Bill Bryson' Irish Times

Author : James Meek
Publisher : Canongate Books
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 10,16 MB
Release : 2019-08-29
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1786896753

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, SUNDAY TIMES, DAILY EXPRESS, SCOTSMAN and SPECTATOR Three journeys. One road. England, 1348. A gentlewoman flees an odious arranged marriage, a Scots proctor sets out for Avignon and a young ploughman in search of freedom is on his way to volunteer with a company of archers. All come together on the road to Calais. Coming in their direction from across the Channel is the Black Death, the plague that will wipe out half of the population of Northern Europe. As the journey unfolds, overshadowed by the archers' past misdeeds and clerical warnings of the imminent end of the world, the wayfarers must confront the nature of their loves and desires. A tremendous feat of language and empathy, it summons a medieval world that is at once uncannily plausible, utterly alien and eerily reflective of our own. James Meek's extraordinary To Calais, In Ordinary Time is a novel about love, class, faith, loss, gender and desire - set against one of the biggest cataclysms of human history.