Miriam's Full English: A Grand Tour of All Our Best Bits

by Miriam Margolyes

Our naughtiest national treasure and Number 1 bestselling author takes on Britain and the British

In Miriam's Full English, she turns her documentary-maker's eye on her own backyard. After exploring the rest of the world through her much-loved BBC series, she's bringing her trademark wit to get to the heart of what is up with not just England but Scotland, Wales and Ireland too.

'It starts with the title - the joy of a Full English is in the way a whole collection of wildly different things pile together onto a breakfast plate to make a delicious whole. And well, that's the real secret of Britain and the British - not shutting things out but welcoming in more... (I mean, even our flag is called the UNION Jack). I believe in fairness and fun, free love and free speech, and all of them are under threat. We desperately need an antidote to the naysayers and belittlers, to Nigel Farage and everyone who says "whatever". And I'm hoping this book might do the trick.'

And who better than Miriam Margolyes OBE to reunite our not terribly united Kingdom in one unforgettable book, packed with heroes and villains, jokes and deep insights, surprises and, of course, lashings of sauce. Expect memories & mammaries, Arsenal & arseholes, politics, filth, and absolutely everything in between.

320 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2026

About the author

Born in Oxford, England in 1941 and educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, Miriam Margolyes is a veteran of stage and screen, an award-winning actress who achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. Winner of the BAFTA Best Supporting Actress award in 1993 for The Age of Innocence, she also received Best Supporting Actress at the 1989 LA Critics Circle Awards for her role in Little Dorrit and a Sony Radio Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her unabridged recording of ‘Oliver Twist’. She was the voice of the Matchmaker in Mulan & Fly, the mother dog, in Babe.

Her voice work has been internationally acclaimed & she is regarded as the most accomplished female voice in Britain: she has recorded many audio books including Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Alice in Wonderland & Alice Through the Looking-Glass, Matilda, Pinnocchio, The Worst Witch series, The Queen & I (one of the best-selling audio books in the world) The Little White Horse, The Sea, Troy & Wise Child ).

Reviews

[Megan Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ I’m disappointed in this book, and I hate to admit that. I have absolutely loved, devoured, every one of Miriam’s books before this one, but the content just didn’t land for me. This has nothing to do with politics because I generally find myself agreeing with Miriam on almost all things, it was actually more the history lessons that bored me to tears. Maybe it’s my fault, maybe I didn’t full grasp what this book would include, but I trusted in her ability to make me laugh and ploughed ahead anyway. She did make me laugh, her narration was on point as always, but there wasn’t enough to carry me through. When the humour hit, it landed and I was chuckling away, but there wasn’t enough peppered throughout the book to keep me interested in the long run, although I did finish it. Thank god for her narration because if I had read instead of listened I fear I may have DNF’d.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

We aren't all extroverts and I do love Facebook and my social media friends really are friends (they've helped me raise money for a stray cat who needed surgery; supported each other in financial need; and offered me accommodation and hospitality around the world). But with that one exception where I did want to have the kind of good knock down argument Jews love, I did really enjoy this book .

I listened to the audio while driving. You get so much more from Miriam's books if you listen. The round up of regional jokes was the funnier because she's such a good mimic.

The book starts trivial (I loved the biscuit chapter but was confused that she thinks rich tea biscuits are posh? ) and gets increasingly serious and concluded as a call to arms against fascism.

Thank you Miriam.

[June Dillow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gratefully received this book as I went to watch her live show last week, and much she spoke about was in the book. Funny, rude and political, just what to expect from this remarkable woman.