What Everyone Knows About Britain* (*Except the British). Michael Peel

Michael Peel, an FT foreign correspondent returning after years overseas, is an engaging guide to Britain’s midlife crisis, bringing his travels through hot places cleverly to bear on a troubled homeland. It’s a smart addition to the Brexit genre, including an enjoyable contrast between the Thai and British monarchies. But it hews too much to a liberal southern journalist’s view of the UK rather than that of a true outsider (which is what the title promises), and the comparisons between home and abroad are sometimes stretched. The book would have benefited from a bit more of what the author is best at – getting out among his fellow Brits with a notebook – as well as a wider notion of the culture; there’s little here on booze, football or housing, core British obsessions all.