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