Description
Book SynopsisSince Britain's 2016 referendum on EU membership, the nation has been profoundly split: one side fantasizing that the referendum will never be acted upon, the other entrenched in questionable assumptions about reclaimed sovereignty and independence. Underlying the cleavage are primal myths, deeper histories, and political folk-legends. James Meek,'the George Orwell of our times', goes in search of the stories and consequences arising out of a nation's alienation from itself.
In Dreams of Leaving and Remaining, Meek meets farmers and fishermen intent on exiting the EU despite the loss of protections they will incur. He reports on a Cadbury's factory shut down and moved to Poland in the name of free market economics, exploring the impact on the local community left behind. He charts how the NHS is coping with the twin burdens of austerity and an aging population.
Dreams of Leaving and Remaining is urgent reporting from one of Britain's finest journalists. James Meek asks what we can recover from the debris of an old nation as we head towards new horizons, and what we must leave behind.There are no easy answers, and what he creates instead is a masterly portrait of an anxious, troubled nation.
Trade ReviewSome of it will make you sad, some of it will make you furious, but you are guaranteed to be left feeling that you understand this country much better. * John Lanchester, author of Capital and Whoops! [For Private Island] *
He crafts beautiful and vivid passages that turn what could be a dry subject into a highly readable study. -- Owen Jones * New Statesman [For Private Island] *
A book that stands as one of the most powerful critiques of the mess that is Britain's economy. -- Aditya Chakrabortty * Guardian [For Private Island] *
A devastating account of the privatisation dogma of the past 25 years... As demolition jobs go, this can hardly be bettered. -- John Kampfner * Observer [For Private Island] *
An energetic and colourfully told polemic against privatisation. * Financial Times [for Private Island] *
Meek listens hard . His reportage . demonstrate[s] a sensibility and empathy that are his wont. * Financial Times *
Provocative and persuasive. * Herald Scotland *
A beautiful collection by a renowned essayist. -- Stephen Bush * Guardian *
Meek is brilliant at focusing on a particular case to tell a bigger story. * Labour Briefing *
[Meek] explores the slow-moving processes behind the sudden shock of the Brexit vote by getting out and about in Britain, to look beyond London at the competing ideals that led to this culture clash - cosmopolitanism and urbane liberalism against a more traditional yearning for British sovereignty, its mythology and nostalgia. -- Dan Hancox * The National *
Clear-headed...Meek has a canny ability to provide plausiable explanations for the motivations of many Leave voters * Peace News *
