Robert Winder was the literary editor of the Independent for five years and deputy editor of Granta magazine. In this book he asks "What sort of place is England?" And "Who are the English?" As the UK turns away from its European neighbours and begins to look increasingly disunited at home he sees it as necessary to ask what England has that is singular and its own. But, as Winder observes "trying to nail down any national character is like trying to grab smoke". Robert McCrum notes in his review of this title in the Observer that "out national identity remains a contradictory topic, in which what is not said is the important bit. Among many Britons, a raised eyebrow can be as meaningful as a national mission statement - except, of course, in a crisis. It's crises that really remind us who we are: 1066, for example".