A Sorry State: Self-denigration in British Culture (2010)

Self-loathing permeates our culture to such an extent that we no longer even see it for what it is. We have become used to living in a permanent state of cultural cringe, of apology, of guilt for real or imagined acts; where our opinion formers appear to agree that western culture is an indefensible horror. The aim of this collection of essays, published in November 2010, is to illustrate how self-denigration operates in both specific and general areas of contemporary life.

They include Helen Szamuely’s essay on history teaching in schools, Emma French’s exploration of the effects of cultural self-laceration in higher education and Marc Sidwell’s analysis of the big state as an expression of self-distrust, we have Gulliver Ralston examining the effects of self-hatred on music education, Paul Seaman on corporate image-building, Juliet Samuel on the environmentalist movement and Douglas Murray on how our response to radical Islam is being compromised.

A Sorry State is available on Amazon.

What Others Have Said....

'Peter Whittle is to be congratulated for bringing together so many fascinating essays, in which knowledgeable and thoughtful people write about the curious, all-pervasive mood of self-hatred that has long been manifest in so many areas of British cultural life.' Michael Burleigh, historian.