Being British

Book excerpt: Being British: Our Once & Future Selves is a journey into British culture and identity today, outlining a welcome new story for ourselves in these times of lack of belonging. It's a book for the liberally minded, and those who feel themselves to be post-traditional, not defined by nationality. The book takes a thought-provoking angle, which is neither Left nor Right, but instead brings the novel lens of a developmental view. It connects the dots between past, present and future, integrating the shadow side, and draws on many unusual examples. This is a fresh story of what it means to be British, where the author is included in the narrative. Without being nostalgic, it restores a sense of rootedness and helps us appreciate our British qualities, incrementally built over a millennium and a half. It celebrates being British as elective and not based on race, and demonstrates how to have pride in our nationality in a post-traditional way.