Note: Images of the original pages are available through HathiTrust Digital Library. See https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015065841051 THESE are the British [Illustration] THESE are the British by DREW MIDDLETON New York: Alfred · A · Knopf: Mcmlvii [Illustration] [Illustration] L.C. catalog card number: 57-11164 © Drew Middleton, 1957 [Illustration: THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK, PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.] Copyright 1957 by Drew Middleton. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper. Manufactured in the United States of America. Published simultaneously in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Limited. FIRST EDITION _This book is dedicated to the memory of_ ALEX CLIFFORD, EVELYN MONTAGUE, _and_ PHILIP JORDAN _FOREWORD_ It was in 1940 that the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom noted that Britain and the United States would have to be "somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage." This situation has persisted until the present. Yet, despite the closeness of co-operation in the intervening years, there is among Americans a surprising lack of knowledge about modern Britain. This book is an effort to provide a picture of that country--"warts and all." Such a book must perforce be uneven. There are areas of British life--the attitude toward religion is one--that have not been touched. I have tried to emphasize those aspects which are least well known in the United States and to omit as far as possible consideration of those which are superficial. Ascot, I agree, is spectacular. But as far as modern Britain is concerned it doesn't matter a damn. I hope, however, that the reader will find here some idea of what has been going on in Britain since 1945 and what is going on there today. This is a modern, mobile society, important to us as we are important to it. If we look at this society realistically, we will discern physical and moral strength that the fictions of Hollywood can never convey. For one whose roots are deep in his own country, the British are a difficult people to understand. But they are worth understanding. They are worth knowing. Long ago, at a somewhat more difficult period of Anglo-American relations, Benjamin Franklin warned his colleagues that if they did not all hang together, they would assuredly hang separately. Good advice for Americans and Britons today. DREW MIDDLETON _Bessboro Farm Westport, Essex County New York March 12, 1957_ _CONTENTS_ I. _Britain Today_ 3 II. _The Monarchy_ 13 III. _How the British Govern Themselves_ 34 IV. _The Conservatives_: A PARTY AND A WAY OF LIFE 50