Faber Members get 10% off their first order

Britain Alone (Hardback)

Philip Stephens

A magisterial and profoundly perceptive survey of Britain’s post-war role on the global stage, from Suez to Brexit.

3 in stock

£25£18.99
Format
Hardback
ISBN
9780571341771
Date Published
28.01.2021
Delivery
All orders are sent via Royal Mail and are tracked: choose from standard or premium delivery.
Summary

A magisterial and profoundly perceptive survey of Britain’s post-war role on the global stage, from Suez to Brexit.

‘The fullest long-run political and diplomatic narrative yet of Britain’s fateful, tragi-comic road to Brexit.’
DAVID KYNASTON

‘An instant classic . . . Stephens is a master of historical codebreaking.’
PETER HENNESSEY

Award-winning Financial Times journalist Philip Stephens paints a fascinating portrait of sixty years — from Suez to Brexit — as Britain struggles to reconcile its waning power with its past glory. Drawing on decades of personal contact and interviews with senior politicians and diplomats in Britain, the United States and across the capitals of Europe, Britain Alone is a magisterial and deeply perceptive history of our nation and how we arrived at the state we are in.

‘Commanding . . . Rarely if ever, in the history of the British state since 1707, has one half of Britain’s ruling elite committed an act of policy viewed with such absolute contempt by the other half; and rarely has that contempt been expressed with such elegance, such fluency, and such a devastating wealth of supporting detail, as in this mighty survey.’ SCOTSMAN

‘Profoundly knowledgeable.’ CHRIS PATTEN
‘Compelling.’ LAWRENCE FREEDMAN
‘A fascinating history.’ IRISH TIMES
‘A magnificent, exhilarating book’ PROSPECT

Critic Reviews

'Admirably lucid and measured, as well as studded with sharp pen portraits of the key players, Britain Alone gives us the fullest long-run political and diplomatic narrative yet of Britain’s fateful, tragi-comic road to Brexit.'

David Kynaston
Critic Reviews

‘Philip Stephens has produced that rare thing - an instant classic. Britain Alone is the codebook we need to unravel the six and a half decades between Suez and Brexit, and Stephens is a master of historical codebreaking.’

Peter Hennessy
Critic Reviews

'This is a compelling account of how a country that once prided itself on its active internationalism now appears as curiously disengaged, drifting away from its natural allies. Philip Stephens tell the story with a journalist's eye for the interplay of personality and policy-making, backed by a deep knowledge of Britain's post-war history.'

Lawrence Freedman
Critic Reviews

'With his profound knowledge of the politics of Westminster, Washington and the European Union, Philip Stephens tells the increasingly depressing story of Britain’s failure to adjust to the loss of empire and to the reality of life as a middle ranking country, with a distinguished culture and history. No-one is likely to write this modern history of decline with more brio and comprehensive insight.'

Chris Patten
Critic Reviews

'Having talked to many of the leading players over decades, Philip Stephens gives us a ringside seat at the drama of how Britain lost, found and lost again its post-imperial international role. Sad and fascinating.'

Timothy Garton Ash
Critic Reviews

'A tour de force. Philip Stephens combines an engaging narrative, packed with fascinating detail with a profound and thought provoking analysis of the UK’s place in the world from Suez to the present day. A readable and authoritative account of Britain’s international role, and the profound challenges that confront us today.'

Anand Menon
PhilipStephens

Philip Stephens is an award-winning journalist and chief political commentator at the Financial Times. He was previously director of the FT’s editorial board. Throughout his career, he has had unique access to foreign policymakers in Britain and around the world. Stephens won the David Watt Prize for Outstanding Political Journalism; the UK Political Studies Association’s Political Journalist of the Year; and Political…

Read More
PhilipStephens
Philip-Stephens.jpg