I suppose if Peter has taught me anything, and mind you he has uncovered a fair amount concerning these wonderful British isles that I was thus far happily unaware of, is that there really is a need in this country for true opposition between political parties. The tepid nature of both Labour and Conservative parties, especially at the time of writing this, seem to both champion the same basic lukewarm, myopic, disunited schema of culture (of course one must bear in mind that beneath the callous veneer, which the Tories do ever so enjoy brazenly displaying as some powerful spectacle, so much of what they espouse concerning immigration seems to me to be just thin-skinned rhetoric, serving up largely impractical proposals which merely pander to their home base - just look at Rwanda). As much as I mourn the lost future of Corbyn’s true to form socialist vision of the Labour Party (roll on Mick Lynch) I also have a deep empathy for true card carrying Conservatives (like Hitchens here) who go unrepresented by the embarrassingly shameless MP’s who currently constitute the Conservative party. Peter’s a real thorn in the side for someone like me: but you really do have to admire his barnacle-like tenacity, suctioned on to the sinking ship of this country with his frequent accurate assessments (much to my ideological chagrin) that you can’t help but end up respecting him — even if I disagree with a fair number of his positions. ( )

I suppose if Peter has taught me anything, and mind you he has uncovered a fair amount concerning these wonderful British isles that I was thus far happily unaware of, is that there really is a need in this country for true opposition between political parties. The tepid nature of both Labour and Conservative parties, especially at the time of writing this, seem to both champion the same basic lukewarm, myopic, disunited schema of culture (of course one must bear in mind that beneath the callous veneer, which the Tories do ever so enjoy brazenly displaying as some powerful spectacle, so much of what they espouse concerning immigration seems to me to be just thin-skinned rhetoric, serving up largely impractical proposals which merely pander to their home base - just look at Rwanda). As much as I mourn the lost future of Corbyn’s true to form socialist vision of the Labour Party (roll on Mick Lynch) I also have a deep empathy for true card carrying Conservatives (like Hitchens here) who go unrepresented by the embarrassingly shameless MP’s who currently constitute the Conservative party. Peter’s a real thorn in the side for someone like me: but you really do have to admire his barnacle-like tenacity, suctioned on to the sinking ship of this country with his frequent accurate assessments (much to my ideological chagrin) that you can’t help but end up respecting him — even if I disagree with a fair number of his positions. ( )

Engaging, effective look at the decline of Britain since 1945, especially in the area of education. Hitchens contrasts the funerals of Winston Churchill in 1965 and Princess Diana in 1997 to particularly good effect. ( )

Hitchens - madman or seer? Always vulnerable to an attack of DailyMailism, there are nevertheless plenty of valid points made in this attack on our muddled society. The first chapter, which looks back to London at the time of Churchill's funeral in 1965, is particularly effective.

A conservative looks back at what is fondly recalled of "Old England" (which was "Old Britain"). He doesn't forget to deride what he considers shallow attitudes in numerous facets of modern British life. ( )