So You Think You Know about Britain?

by Danny Dorling

When it comes to immigration, the population explosion, the collapse of the family, the north-south divide, devolution, or the death of the countryside, common wisdom tells us that we are in trouble; however, this is far from the truth. Offering an anatomy of contemporary Britain, this title reveals unexpected truths about the way we live.

Genres: Nonfiction, Geography, Politics, Economics, British Literature, Society, Sociology

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Danny Dorling is a British social geographer researching inequality and human geography. He is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography of the School of Geography and the Environment of the University of Oxford.

Danny Dorling has lived all his life in England. To try to counter his myopic world view, in 2006, Danny started working with a group of researchers on a project to remap the world (www.worldmapper.org).
He has published with many colleagues more than a dozen books on issues related to social inequalities in Britain and several hundred journal papers. Much of this work is available open access and will be added to this website soon.

His work concerns issues of housing, health, employment, education and poverty. Danny was employed as a play-worker in children’s summer play-schemes. He learnt the ethos of pre-school education where the underlying rationale was that playing is learning for living. He tries not to forget this. He is an Academician of the Academy of the Learned Societies in the Social Sciences, Honorary President of the Society of Cartographers and a patron of Roadpeace, the national charity for road crash victims.

Reviews

[Jay Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won't tell you much that you don't already know if you've been paying attention. Lots of undeveloped ideas. Very poor editing: lots of typos, punctuation errors. One egregious hard fact error leaped out: Dorling seems to think that before she married Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb had not just a different surname (Potter) but also a different first name, Beatrix. Thus, his knowing and smarmy footnote advising that 'this' Beatrix Potter should not be confused with the writer of children's stories serves only to highlight his ignorance and the absence of fact-checking at the publisher.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dorling clearly knows his stuff. The first few chapters I found interesting and enjoyable. However by the third of fourth chapter I was starting to struggle, and by the penultimate chapter I couldn't wait to finish. Facts were being spewed out and this was starting to make my eyes glaze over a bit by the end.

Also, at times I thought the author generalised a bit to support his arguments, and had a bit of a blinkered, naive view on certain areas. For example, one website he visited suggested we invest more in pensions and save for retirement. The article was effectively sponsored by a life company. So (and I paraphrase) it was argued that the whole of the finance industry is "out to get us". Hmmmmmm.

I gave 2 stars as overall it was mildly interesting to read. A topic I find interesting but perhaps just not my sort of book. But this will be one for the charity shop I think...

[Eric]

Sigh! Malcolm Gladwell, this guy is not. (That's meant to be a compliment)

I feel like the author is on the right team, that of actually caring about people and perhaps more importantly, that of using reason and knowledge rather than hysteria and making shit up.

That said...

ZZZZZ

I'm sorry, I feel terribly guilty for saying that, and I think I did learn a thing or two for what I managed to stay awake through. I dunno, the author does try to maintain a causal and informal tone but there's something a bit plodding and unengaging about the writing; you feel this impatience rising up, oh get to the point will you. I also sense a kind of naivety about the world a kind of professorial thinking, perhaps that you can actually combat myths with facts and figures.

I think this book depresses me because it what I can learn from it(s existence) is that the Truth is Boring which is why it is destined to lose. Your sober perspective-putting easily trumped by Malcolm's amusingly spun factoid, sorry.

Ah I don't know what I'm talking about. Danny Dorling seems to be a really smart guy and smarter than I portray him and most likely a great guest to have around at a dinner party. Maybe I'll just go back to watching more reality TV or something.

(Oh and reading this, I thinking I'm developing a sort of soft spot/affection for geographers)

[Oh and I found it very amusing/interesting how the US is used as a cautionary tale here, as in, if we're not careful we'll become more like America!]

[Hannah W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books where I feel torn between giving it a 3 or a 4 star rating. I’ve gone for the 3 stars however because I was glad to get to the end of the book and move onto something else. Perhaps that was because I read it all in one go and it would be better enjoyed a chapter at a time, in between other books. The information here is interesting, but it began to feel rather relentless.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/...]

[Ambar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about numbers, some defining means of statistics. Also looking for answer behind the geography facts in Britain (shortest road in Britain is only 3m long! and decipher the Bridget Jones Diary phenomena). I found this book entertaining, maintaining the beauty of careful studies of sociology and demography development in this country. You will find some sober and dignify reasons about why South and North were not a myth.

[Theo Kokonas · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you enjoy examining stats more than just being given the high level conclusions then you'll find some of this book quite interesting. However the author frequently betrays a very strong bias towards his political opinions. Granted we've all got a natural bias (I'm centrist-left if you want to know) his come to the fore a little too prominently, overshadowing his somewhat brilliant research.

The conclusions from his findings, although sourced from objective origins are then tainted by surprisingly extreme left-leaning beliefs. An example which frustrated me was that the rich choose to live further away from their work (in sumptuous country villages) and it is the poor that choose to live in cheaper and more central locations in the UK. Supposedly those that can afford to would live further out rather than in the cities thereby causing pollution, congesting infrastructure etc etc
My experience and that of my self-labelled middle-class peers is the exact opposite - if we could afford to live closer to work and have the same standard of living we'd certainly do so but are effectively priced out by the wealthy and hence live further out to commute in.

Another thing that irked me was his insistence on using publicly available references only. While in most cases it's admirable I know full-well how biased Wikipedia can be, and there's some brilliant journals out there that are paid for that are disappointing to be excluded.

It was an ok read and it provided me with some interesting insights into UK demographics. The author is a clever chap who I'm sure I'd get on with in real life, but I doubt I'd read any more of his books.

[Barbara Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable study of inequality in Britain based on census data, with historical and geographical comparisons. The account of the Drop Down Dead Show in chapter 1 is particulary engaging. This book was written in 2011, and there have been some changes: notably, the 2021 census will now go ahead,. The author has written many books on this subject, at various academic levels, but this still makes a good introduction

[O* · Rating 3 out of 5]

In spite of being a few years old now I found the book very interesting to read, and well written. Towards the end it does get a bit lengthy, but it was still a book worth reading to understand aspects of Britain – or to deepen your understanding of Britain.

[C Tytherleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately enjoyable but very informative, topics covered include life expectancy and the North-South divide. Good fodder for Human Geographers.

[Sue Lyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. I love Danny Dorling's writing, the mixture of fact, analysis, opinion, humour and sound good sense. I now have a very informed picture of Britain today. His thesis follows the same lines as "The Spirit Level" that it is the gap between rich and poor in Britain that is the key issue for us to address. Most surprising and most welcome fact is that 75% of those aged 90+ are living independently in their homes. OF the 25% needing to be looked after, the majority are cared for by their relatives in their 70s.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and understand, with some anectodes to lighten it up, encouraging the reader to continue reading. I really enjoyed the book, especially after having been to one of his lectures on inequality in Sheffield. The book gets you thinking about society differently, or, in my case, it put the things I had noticed into context and showed up the links between issues such as health, immigration, ageing, poverty, employment, etc.

[Angelique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps named to just sell books, this is a enlightening little read about social injustice in the UK. I might of read it a bit too late, as results of the 2011 census are now out. This book will definitely get any good liberals' blood boiling.

[Anne Brunton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of this type of book it is the best. Huge fan of Dorling.