Littlejohn's Britain

by Richard Littlejohn

Richard Littlejohn's cast of characters ­ including Two Jags, the Wicked Witch, Captain Hook and the Mad Mullah of the Traffic Taliban ­ are now part of the fabric of the nation. He ridicules the country Britain has become over the past ten years - the barmy bureaucracy, the surveillance state, the petty interference in our lives, the suffocating regulations, policemen and judges who think they're part of the social services and the insanities of the 'elf 'n' safety industry, which has created such idiocies as forcing revellers celebrating Guy Fawkes Night to watch a bonfire on a big screen.

'Littlejohn has been ... a vivid exponent of a great British columnar style that stretches back five centuries or more. He's a distant, bastard cousin of Thomas Nash, Daniel Defoe and Alexander Pope. Cassandra and Bernard Levin might justly buy him a pint in the Cheshire Cheese. Like or loathe him, he's the real, talented deal.' Observer

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2007

About the author

Richard Littlejohn is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, andauthor of three best-selling books. His twice-weekly columns in the Daily Mail and the Sun earned him a place in the inaugural Newspaper Hall of Fame as one of the most influential journalists of the past 40 years. He has been Fleet Street's Columnist of the Year and was named Irritant of the Year by the BBC's What The Papers Say awards for his unrivalled ability to get up the noses of the Establishment. He has written for London's Evening Standard, Punch and the Spectator

His extensive radio and television work has brought him both a Sony award and a Silver Rose of Montreux.

Reviews

[Misty Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh dear! For once I am almost lost for words...

This has been on my shelf for a number of years - a present from a male friend (if I am remembering correctly one that is no longer with us - it would certainly have been his idea of amusing)

The book was published in 2007 and I'm not sure that a fairly high proportion of the content would now be publishable - the world and society have moved on...Reading it certainly made me think. It would be very easy to sit there nodding one's head and agreeing with the author's 'rants', but each time I wanted to do so I examined what was being said against current thinking and felt considerable discomfort, especially when his targets were the LGBTQ+ communities.

What WAS interesting, given that it was written nearly two decades ago were the parallels between the political situation in 2007 and 2024. A newly elected Labour government, political shenanigans, terrorism, the economy, the NHS etc. How come we are still in [or back in] the same mess?

Probably best avoided by anyone born post ?1980 - and probably also by any Boomers with precarious health conditions!

[Nigel Street · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of the moment so understandably it reads more like a history lesson now. Politically early 2000's were not something I can look back on with great nostalgia! This is a collection of the author's journalistic high points over the period. Some endure better than others and one thing that is telling, looking back, is the undertone of resentment that he was clearly a voice for around the UK's then immigration policy; BREXIT 12 years later on - read Asylum if you need any proof! While Littlejohn is undoubtedly offensive to many, including me on many occasions it is good that we continue to have a society that allows freedom of expression providing it stops short of breeding hatred - difficult line to walk and not sure he manages to do that at times!

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you’re unfamiliar with Richard Littlejohn then I would suggest that you imagine Jeremy Clarkson but without the wit, charm or sophistication. Littlejohn’s catchphrase appears to be ‘you couldn’t make it up?’ However, in respect to hard hat wearing trapeze artists, thermostatically controlled bath taps, hair netted trawler men hauling in their catch and the perpetuation of the “war on Christmas” myth, it’s clear that not only could he make it up, Littlejohn actually did!

[Colin Oaten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious look at the Blair years as PM, following the authors previous book, You Couldn't Make It Up, which did a similar job scrutinising and skewering the Major government. Interesting to see how in the 16 years since publication, British society has headed even further down the road of political correctness and wokery that the book highlights.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute twaddle

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

littlejohn is scum
the daily mail is a rag

now ive got that out of the way, this book is, in all honesty, a recruiting manual for the BNP. the best review is this:

SELF: I've read 200 pages of it, and that is a 200 page recruiting leaflet for the BNP.

LITTLEJOHN: Well, you can't comment until you have read the other 200.

SELF: Why? Does it suddenly turn into Tolstoy?

[Kristina Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining but all too depressingly true. Some of the anecdotes beggar belief. One can only hope those in power will come to their senses eventually. In the meantime, you just have to laugh.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

You couldn't make it up.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another review of dystopia Britain.

[Harry Saxon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh out loud look at the absurdity of political correctness.