Product Description

On a switchback ride through the USA, riding pillion with America's founding fathers, Jonathan Freedland searches out the qualities that made America the land at the end of his childhood rainbow, the place his grandfather and he conspired to run off to because of its open promise and unbounded potential. Noisy, crass, greedy, riddled with crime, riven by race, obsessed by money: America, exporter of junk to the UK. Or is it? From Lesbianville in New Hampshire to Tent City in Arizona, from the high kitsch celebration of Liberace to the Bible Belt austerity of Iowa, from the paranoid militia of rural Montana to Florida's Condo Canyon, this is a journey to the heart of modern America -- to Normal, Illinois. On his travels Freedland reveals how Americans control of their own lives, shape their own communities and vibrantly assert their rights. And there's even a twist: the spirit that inspires the American secret is actually our own -- a British revolutionary fervour mislaid across the Atlantic. This what has made America the diverse, freedom-loving, self-sufficient, independent icon to the world: the place where socialism never took hold because it is inherent in the founding vision, where capitalism at the same time has reached its apogee; where many cultures contribute to the national fabric and yet the sense of belonging to the nation and reverence for its symbols is unmatched across the globe. It's time Britain shared the vitality: time to reclaim the revolution and bring it home.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #184930 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Jonathan Freedland is a columnist and leader writer for the Guardian. Until 1997 he was the paper's Washington Correspondent. Previously a reporter for BBC news and current affairs, he has been a frequent contributor to magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, including Vogue, GQ and Elle. This is his first book.

Customer Reviews

Very easy read that is stimulating and thought provoking.
What an eye-opener! This really does challenge the "British Club". If you ever wanted to understand why the majority of the British are apathetic towards government, this book will help you. It doesn't present America as a panacea either. There is much to criticise in America, and much to praise. There is not very much to praise about the political system in Britain, once you understand upon what it is built.

Next time a politician turns up on your doorstep to canvass for your vote, give him this book.

Should be made compulsory school reading
Any book that calls for Liz Windsor to be removed from the throne deserves to be compulsory reading for all UK school children. However, having an unelected head of state is only one aspect of the 'British Constitution' that compares unfavourably with the USA. The lack of control and accountability of the ruling elite in the UK is truly appalling.

This book draws stark, and uncomfortable, contrasts between the way things are done in the UK as opposed to the USA. Americans recognise that democracy is important, unfortunately we in the UK seem to have forgotten this.

This is opinion, not argument.
Having read all the reviews, I opened this book ready to be coverted to the American way.

Well, I now have a better understanding of why Americans live and think the way they do, but I was left cold by all the arguments that the UK should become more like the US. The author deftly points out the differences between the US and the the UK and discusses the pros and cons of American nationalism, pushiness, insularity and selfishness. Sorry, I mean patriotism, self-confidence, localism and libertarianism. But as to how he goes from there to the argument that Britain ought to become a clone of the USA is a mystery. Okay, so he personally likes America, so what? There are probably equally good arguments to made in favour of the cultures and politics of France or Scandinavia or Japan. Or even Britain.

Oh, and my wife wanted me to point out that the book's cover is really unattractive.