Pure centrist erotica. This myth-busting chronicle of bad-tempered, Brexit-riven England aims to provide Keir Starmer with the grand narrative he needs

Will Lloyd, Sunday Times

The book is cast as a travelogue, from Runnymede to Surrey, site of the signing of the Magna Carta and from where the idea that the English invented liberty is examined, to the seafaring buccaneers of Plymouth, working-class Blackpool and supposedly anti-immigrant Wolverhampton, to the cosy establishment elite of Oxford . . . Enjoyable . . . Compelling

Financial Times

Challenging, forensic, compelling

Sathnam Sanghera, author of 'Empireland'

England, with great insight, humour and compassion, punctures the shared myths and simplistic narratives of a complex country and its ever-surprising people. It entertainingly trawls through our long past in order to imagine a more hopeful future. And with a cast of characters to die for. A deeply human, unpretentious and evocative new look at an old country

James Graham, playwright, 'Dear England'

This iconoclastic masterpiece is well argued and beautifully written. A thoroughly entertaining read

Alan Johnson, author of 'This Boy'

Wonderfully evocative descriptions of English places, English identities and the myths that cling to them. Too honest, too nuanced and too deep for any party manifesto

Matthew Parris