John Bull's Way
LIFE IN BRITAIN. By J. D. Scott. (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 25s.) MR. Scorr has had the excellent idea of compiling a volume on British Life which would serve as a guide to the intelligent foreigner interested in, or confused by, our peculiar institutions. The scheme is an excellent one, which could fill a long-felt want, but it is doubtful whether it is in the capacity of any one man to cover the whole field. In one instance Mr. Scott has filled a lacuna by incorporating a chapter on The English Way of Law' by 'Henry Cecil,' and an appendix on 'The Law of Scotland' by 'an Advocate'; these are satisfactory and enlightening guides to per- plexed subjects; but there are a number of institutions which would have merited similar contributions, but which Mr. Scott has either ignored, or treated most summarily. Outstanding among these are British Trade Unionism; British banking, with its very odd rela- tionship between the Bank of England, the Joint Stock Banks, and the Treasury; Defence and National Service; and though Scotland is given some attention, there is very little information on Wales or Northern Ireland.
The subjects which Mr. Scott has treated are : Social Life (some- what summarily); The Place; Religion; Government; Politics; Education; The Welfare State; The Convalescent Economy; and The Press and the BBC. Each subject gets about twenty pages; and within this short space a good deal of information is clearly con- veyed, often illuminated by an outline of the historical background or by comparison with parallel institutions in other countries, par- ticularly Western Europe or the US. The straightforward exposi- tion is occasionally enlivened by epigrams. I like the remark that 'In Britain the putting of new wine into old bottles is not an ex- pedient; it is a system, almost a religion.' On the other hand I think that correctness has been sacrificed to a joke in the statement: 'The telly has become the privilege of the under-privileged.'
Despite its failure to fulfil completely its announced intentions, this book would be a useful gift to an inquiring visitor; and there will be few Britons who will not gain some new insight into the working of the institutions which govern their lives. I should per- haps add that Mr. Scott has made most generous references to my study of English Character.
GEOFFREY GORER
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