‘Fantastic Kingdom’ by Helene Von Bismarck

Over the years I have enjoyed reading books written by people from overseas which discuss their perceptions of the UK after spending time living here. Some, like Bill Bryson, write about us with huge affection. Others, including, I think, Karel Čapek in ‘Letters from England’ (1924), mix admiration with bewilderment when discussing some aspects of British culture. There was a particularly perceptive, if rather London-centric, book I recall enjoying by the American journalist Richard Critchfield in the 1990s called ‘Among the British: An Outsider’s View’. And more recently I remember reading Philippe Daudy’s book called ‘Les Anglais’ (1989), which was written principally for a French readership and focused on our many eccentricities and apparent contradictions. Sarah Lyall took a similar approach from an American perspective in ‘The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British’, which was published in 2008, again exploring and explaining what seem completely natural behaviours to us, but which appear bizarre and contradictory when viewed from one remove. That book was, I remember hilarious and deserves a re-read.

Helene von Bismarck’s recent book is the latest addition to this mini-canon. It is subtitled ‘A Stranger’s Notes on a Contrary Country’ and, like all the others, this notion of supposed contradictions underpins a generally fair-minded and accurate portrayal. The focus here is more on politics and constitutional matters than culture, and, like the others, Ms von Bismarck draws on years of living in the UK and on a good number of research interviews. Her perspective is that of a member of the educated, liberal European elite, and she writes with style and perception about the things that tend to set Britain apart and interest people, like our monarchy, imperial past, four-nation setup and island geography.

It is always sobering and useful to read about how others perceive your country, but I was somewhat surprised, having read this, to find out that it was not apparently written primarily for a German readership. Helene von Bismarck wrote her book in English and appears to intend its readership primarily to be British. She is thus, I guess, looking to explain us to ourselves via her ‘stranger’s’ perspective. Quite a presumptive thing to attempt, really, particularly as so much of the book is a discussion of history and the evolution of institutions that most of her readers will surely already be very well aware of. The kind of reasonably well-educated Brit who would pick this book up will not therefore necessarily learn a great deal from it. The chapters provide a pretty familiar account of the evolution of elements of the British constitution / polity and attitudes towards them. What makes it interesting and worth reading are the conclusions that she reaches on the basis of her analysis.

At its centre is the entirely sound observation that, in most respects, the issues and challenges that contemporary Britain faces are not at all different from those faced around the world. There are some differences in terms of history, geography and the fact that the UK is made up of distinct nations with their own identities, but by and large we are no different in most respects from everyone else in the industrialised West. There are many more similarities than differences. But, she goes on to observe, the British tend not to see themselves that way, being convinced of their ‘exceptionalism’ and convinced that they are, in some undefined way, ‘special’.

This was one of a number of ways in which her analysis was, I think, just slightly overstated. I do not think that most British people think of ourselves as being ‘special’ at all. Distinct perhaps, yes, in some ways, but special, no. Our view of ourselves varies enormously, and the predominant attitudes are certainly proudish and patriotic, as well as deeply cynical and downbeat. We have a tendency to look down on other peoples sometimes, but normally in a jokey and not so serious way. Do we really though consider ourselves to be ‘special’? I think not. We like to celebrate our nationhood and distinctiveness – precious stone set in silver sea etc – but don’t most peoples? In fact – and I realise the irony – I actually think we are pretty modest when we consider ourselves as a nation. And these figures from the big social attitudes survey undertaken in 2023 rather make my point, I think:

Britain is better than most other countries: 42%

Would rather be British than any other nationality: 49%

The world would be better if others were more like the British: 23%

Should support Britain even when it is wrong: 14%

I would hazard a guess that you would get much bigger percentages in favour of these kinds of propositions in other countries, including Germany.

The other aspect I found irritating, because I really do not think she is correct, concerns our supposed ‘imperial nostalgia’. Von Bismarck makes a big deal of this, suggesting that the British have never really got over ‘losing’ our Empire and have been struggling ever since to find a fitting role for ourselves in the world. This may well be a concern in the diplomatic circles that she moves in, but I can honestly say that in over sixty years of living in Britain I have never, ever heard anyone regret the passing of empire or show the slightest nostalgia for it. The vast majority simply do not ever think about it at all. Imperial history has absolutely zero interest, recognition or understanding among a very big majority of British people. And the 5% or so (may be) who are aware of it, often because of family links, see it as having had as many negative aspects as positive ones. We do not, in any shape or form, regret its passing!

She also makes the claim – in passing, admittedly, but in this context – that when Meghan Markle married Prince Harry there was a racist reaction against her. This claim is repeatedly made and it really irritates me because it is not so long ago and I remember it well. People generally – and I mean the vast majority – adored Meghan when she first became a part of the Royal Family. We were all delighted. She was welcomed and cheered to the rafters. She was a very glamorous breath of fresh air. It only started going wrong when she and Harry started making overtly political statements that fell outside the uncontested consensus and, particularly, preaching on climate change while flying about the world in private jets. I honestly recall absolutely no racism whatsoever in the press coverage. Headlines intended to be supportive and positive such as the now notorious ‘(Almost) Straight Outta Compton’ splash in the Daily Mail have been twisted in the analysis to mean the opposite of what was intended. Yet this myth (lie, really) keeps getting repeated ad infinitum and people start to believe it.

My big problem with ‘Fantastic Kingdom’, though, is its absurd insistence that the Brexit vote in 2016 was ‘a disaster’. This nonsense is propagated continually by those who lost the referendum, and Helene von Bismarck absolutely takes their side 100% in her discussion of the issue. She trots out the same old tropes that we hear again and again and which I can hardly be bothered to respond to quite frankly. The vote was all about immigration and was thus basically racist – the imperial nostalgia bollocks again, the island mentality, we think we’re special, pulling up the drawbridge, the campaign was led by charlatans who lied to us, biggest single act of economic self-harm in human history – blah blah blah blah. All to do with some kind of pathological national condition where by a majority are beset by psychological shortcomings. Just such a load of crap, and propagated by obsessed globalists in an ongoing attempt to delegitimise the biggest ever exercise in direct democracy we have ever had in or country.

Ultimately, the referendum was about a single overriding issue - namely, do we, as a people and a nation, wish to be independent and sovereign in the future, or part of a wider European polity (a putative superstate) that is committed to ‘ever closer union’? It was about who gets to make the laws under which we live and who gets to determine policy on questions such as who can and cannot settle here permanently. It was not an illiberal thing. Far from it. National independence and liberalism are not incompatible by any means whatsoever. The UK is one hell of a lot more democratic in its political structures than the EU even aspires to be.

It was close, but the turnout was very high, and by a majority exceeding a million and a half votes, we chose independent, sovereign nation status. Helene von Bismarck, like many British elites, may deplore that decision, and that is their right. But they need to acknowledge that it was entirely legitimate. The sneering and smearing that still goes on – and which is given a fair amount of ‘air time’ in this book – is utterly infuriating, and I would strongly suggest counter-productive from the perspective of the sneerers and smearers. So I really wish she had talked to a wider range of people before making the assertions she does.

Having got that off my chest, I want to praise this little book, not least for drawing attention to the fact that Britain is not actually so badly regarded in the world, even if we are sometimes misunderstood. My main conclusion from reading this is I think that we probably do need now to define ourselves and our purpose more clearly than we have done, both for overseas and home consumption. I wonder whether the possible adoption of a ‘British Bill of Rights’ to replace the European Convention might provide the opportunity for a confident declaration of what precisely we stand for that almost everyone could get behind – in theory if not in practice.

What we are and the role we seek to play should be modest, decent and entirely constructive. We are a medium sized ‘power’ with a diverse population living together pretty effectively and healthily. Our values are liberal first and foremost. We are free-spirited and tolerant, democratic and equal before the law. We should have no desire to ‘punch above our weight’ and no wish to dominate others. We seek no more than peace, prosperity, free trade and independence, and will ally reliably with those who share the same core values while resisting those who threaten them. It is time we articulated that much more effectively because it is the reality.

Helene von Bismarck is at her most persuasive when she reminds us that Britain in fact remains a prosperous, influential, broadly tolerant and remarkably successful country, notwithstanding all the gloomy predictions about its future. We have our problems, of course, but so does everyone else, and ours are not uniquely terrible or insurmountable. Indeed, one of the most valuable aspects of this book is its reminder that there is much about contemporary Britain that foreigners admire and even envy. I just wish that its author had been a little more willing to extend to the British themselves the generosity of spirit that she displays towards so many of our institutions. We really are not quite as deluded about ourselves as she sometimes seems to think.

But I am glad to have read ‘Fantastic Kingdom’. It is an engaging, thought-provoking and frequently perceptive contribution to a fascinating literary genre. I disagreed with quite a lot of it, sometimes vehemently, but that is hardly a reason to dismiss a book. Quite the reverse. Books that challenge one’s assumptions and provoke an argument are often the most rewarding of all.