Amid stories of doom and gloom, in 1993 Paddy Ashdown set off to see for himself what was going on in Britain. He travelled up and down the country - from Cornwall to Orkney - spending time on housing estates, in schools and factories, with social workers and policemen, working alongside miners, dustmen, farmers and fishermen, talking to pensioners, gay rights activists, town planners, schoolchildren. And he discovered an astonishing and unexpected fund of strength, courage and resourcefulness.