It must be a very difficult balancing act (as a non-American), critiquing American culture without losing friends. I could turn that right around and say the same of some people in the US, of course, but being a Brit myself, with family in the USA, I find our attitude more arrogant, superior and wrong-headed than I'd really like!

Note: segregation in public came to an end only in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed by Lyndon B. He lets loose on Conservative Christianity, race, mass shootings, isolationism, the media and the role of government. If any CIA agents are reading this, I'm not implying that Hillary pushed for intervention in Libya (because I don't want to be added to the Clinton kill list). Why was Hilary Clinton so hated – something that mystified us in the UK – and why, indeed, was there so much hate generally in that ill spirited election? And journalists normally are used as a leverage to distract people’s attention from certain political facts, events or even political killings.I understood US to be deist in outlook rather than theist, just about disdainfully tolerating Jews and Catholics, and as for Muslims. Mr Sopel looks at the various key cultural and social norms that define America and sets it against the rest of the West – especially western Europe – and tries to explain what drives American society, and what its flashpoints are. Nonetheless, it is nice to have your impressions confirmed by someone who actually knows what he is talking about. Sopel does a great job of enlightening British readers on some of the realities of life and attitudes in the USA, while at the same time giving American readers interesting insights into the way others see us. He doesn't dismiss Trump voters as "learning disabled" but suggests some rationale for their enthusiasm.

In this fascinating, insightful portrait of American life and politics, the BBC’s North America Editor, Jon Sopel sets out to answer our questions about a country that once stood for the grandest of dreams but which is now mired in a storm of political extremism, racial division and increasingly perverse beliefs. Beginning and ending with chapters that explain the Trump presidency, such as the anger that got him into power and a new chapter on the first year of chaos in the White House (as well as the surprising resurgence in economic prosperity), there are chapters on religion, race, guns, patriotism, pharmacological abuse and big government. Interesting read about the background to Trump’s victory and the state of the nations mind at the time (and now!How can you be happy when the people around you are short of food, can't afford to be ill, when every numpty has a gun, when police are allowed to kill unarmed teenagers, especially if they're black. F.Benson earthquake ebook ebooks eddie redmayne Editing elementals evolution exile expat experiments fantasy father brown felicity jones fiction finance flat earth folklore fonts food Fred Benson free stuff gaiman gangsters good omens grant guernsey hamish macbeth historical fiction history homages html hypochondria illness interview interviews isaac newton italics japan javelin kabbala kabbalah kindle kit language libraries lichfield listening literary lockdown Lucia lunar society m. He describes the idea that Jews have a "large influence and ownership and influence in our motion pictures", as a Zionist conspiracy-theory. Please, do not forget that about 200 years ago allegedly the Founding Fathers of the USA declared that “all men are created equal”.

He details the history of the US relationship with the truth, with guns and with God (to name but a few), making clear that what seems so foreign and bizarre to a British audience, is not so far out of the norm across the pond. Jon Sopel’s book is a 90% state -of - the - nation USA in which the key themes; Race, God, Guns, are intelligently observed, but were written before the Trump phenomenon, and do not reference the specifics of Trumpism. In actual fact, the French or Germans are probably a lot closer to the British mindset than the Americans; it’s just that most people can’t understand them when they are speaking their native tongue.Jon Sopel has lived and worked in the USA for many years and has travelled the length and breadth of the continent. He also tries to show how this compares to other high profile political figures he has shadowed on both sides of the pond. The author is the BBC’s Washington correspondent, with experience and knowledge of American society at many levels.

It strikes me that he never set out to do a hit job on the president, more to give a counterpoint to the endless stream of tweets that Trump seems so keen on. Special” relates the asymmetric view that the UK and USA have of what we Britons know as “the special relationship”, actually not that special to most Americans.When he asks her if she’s okay, she says yes so he tells her he’ll talk to her later and hangs up so he can go back to listening to the political conversation: “Maybe not my finest hour in concerned parenting…but, hey, the tennis was great. Donald Trump’s subsequent election and his first 18 months in the job have made Washington and world affairs febrile with opinion, outrage, incredulity, and interest- big time. Let me start out by saying if you are a fan in any way of Donald Trump this book is not going to be one for you and I will wish you a good day.