Readinng John Higgs’ Love and Let Die which examines England and Englishness through the prism of The Beatles and James Bond.

I’m about a quarter through and it’s excellent.

Higgs refers to the “England” of the wealthy as the Norman Continuity Empire and describes it as “a cuckoo placed in the nest of physical England, claiming an outsized share of resources”.

#England #Englishness #TheBeatles #JamesBond #inequality

“Ah. Yes, I suppose I am awfully old-fashioned, but I’ve always conflated #Englishness with #Britishness. I think you’ll find most people do.” What a weird place these islands are!
#Britain #Scotland #England #UK #flags
https://www.thenational.scot/politics/23613211.work-london-media-colleagues-england-britain/

Ben Aaronovitch's 'Moon over Soho' and #englishness:

"There's more to life than just London."
"Yeah, people keep saying that. But I've never seen actual proof."
"We can take the dog. He'll enjoy the fresh air."
"We won't. Not if we take the dog."

100 pages later:
"For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me. But fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time."