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What We Have Lost: The Dismantling of Great Britain
'Exquisitely written and ripe with detail' Sunday Times. 'An engaging book ... He knows his British stuff' The Times. 'One of England's most skilled and alluring prose writers in or out of fiction, has done something even more original' London Review of Books.
WHAT WE HAVE LOST IS A MISSILE AIMED AT THE BRITISH ESTABLISHMENT, A BLISTERING INDICTMENT OF POLITICIANS AND CIVIL SERVANTS, PLANNING AUTHORITIES AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, WHO HAVE PRESIDED, SINCE 1945, OVER THE DECLINE OF BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIES AND REPLACED THE 'GREAT' IN BRITAIN WITH A FOR SALE SIGN HUNG AROUND THE NECK OF THE NATION.
Between 1939 and 1945, Britain produced around 125,000 aircraft, and enormous numbers of ships, motor vehicles, armaments and textiles. We developed radar, antibiotics, the jet engine and the computer. Less than seventy years later, the major industries that had made Britain a global industrial power, and employed millions of people, were dead. Had they really been doomed, and if so, by what? Can our politicians have been so inept? Was it down to the superior competition of wily foreigners? Or were our rulers culturally too hostile to science and industry?
James Hamilton-Paterson, in this evocation of the industrial world we have lost, analyzes the factors that turned us so quickly from a nation of active producers to one of passive consumers and financial middlemen.
WHAT WE HAVE LOST IS A MISSILE AIMED AT THE BRITISH ESTABLISHMENT, A BLISTERING INDICTMENT OF POLITICIANS AND CIVIL SERVANTS, PLANNING AUTHORITIES AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, WHO HAVE PRESIDED, SINCE 1945, OVER THE DECLINE OF BRITAIN'S INDUSTRIES AND REPLACED THE 'GREAT' IN BRITAIN WITH A FOR SALE SIGN HUNG AROUND THE NECK OF THE NATION.
Between 1939 and 1945, Britain produced around 125,000 aircraft, and enormous numbers of ships, motor vehicles, armaments and textiles. We developed radar, antibiotics, the jet engine and the computer. Less than seventy years later, the major industries that had made Britain a global industrial power, and employed millions of people, were dead. Had they really been doomed, and if so, by what? Can our politicians have been so inept? Was it down to the superior competition of wily foreigners? Or were our rulers culturally too hostile to science and industry?
James Hamilton-Paterson, in this evocation of the industrial world we have lost, analyzes the factors that turned us so quickly from a nation of active producers to one of passive consumers and financial middlemen.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 4, 2018
About the author
James Hamilton-Paterson
45 books95 followersJames Hamilton-Paterson is a British poet, novelist, and one of the most private literary figures of his generation. Educated at Exeter College, Oxford, he began his career as a journalist before emerging as a novelist with a distinctive lyrical style. He gained early recognition for Gerontius, a Whitbread Award-winning novel, and went on to write Ghosts of Manila and America’s Boy, incisive works reflecting his deep engagement with the Philippines. His interests range widely, from history and science to aviation, as seen in Seven-Tenths and Empire of the Clouds. He also received praise for his darkly comic Gerald Samper trilogy. Hamilton-Paterson divides his time between Austria, Italy, and the Philippines and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 29, 2026
[Britain is a nation of] long shadows on county cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and – as George Orwell said – old maids bicycling to Holy Communion through the morning mist. – John Major
Politicians of a certain political hue want to sell the dream of nostalgia, the notion that everything was much better back in the day. We’d won a war (with a lot of help from others), and life then was villages with roses growing around the door of a thatched cottage. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t… Life for most people was nasty, brutish, and often short, unless they were born chinless and inbred, and had a substantial part of a county as their land and their home.
We were the first nation to industrialise, and then at the end of the 20th century, we were the first nation to become post-industrial as the politicians of the time embraced the service and banking industries. Hamilton-Paterson describes the banking sector as a parasite on the British economy, and I can’t say I disagree with his point of view.
He goes on to explain how those who fill the corridors of the now exclusive public schools and gain entry to the premier universities have no interest in STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics). This is something that almost every other country puts as its priority.
You would think that the country that invented railways would have the best and most comprehensive network in the world. But you’d be wrong. The modern railway network costs the country more in subsidies than it used to when it was fully nationalised. Madness. Add the amount it is subsidised to the vast fares that the private sector charges, and you can see that the promise of privatisation being better value for the consumer was one great lie. Transport planning has never been a strong point of successive governments and the civil service. The unnecessary Beeching cuts on the railways, to the laughable and bonkers decisions on airports, mostly surrounding London.
The demise of the railways was driven (sic) by the rise of the car and road lobby. They had the politician and civil servants by the short and curlies, and they ensured that all policy decisions on transport prioritised roads. In a sense of irony that you couldn’t make up, Hamilton-Paterson goes on to describe just how awful most British cars were. Add to that heady mix of poor quality and design, the shocking management of the companies and the inflexible and unhelpful union leaders made everything ten times worse. This is why we have no UK owned car manufacturers. The captains of industry and policy makers still managed to get and keep their gongs for services to industry… As there is no comprehensive transport policy, and the poor planning of the road network, we are in the top ten for the gridlocked roads in the world.
As a nation surrounded by the sea, we have always built our own boats and ships. It used to be a massive industry, but in recent years it has dwindled somewhat, partly because of shipyard management failing to adopt new construction techniques and unions also failing to embrace these changes. Both camps were shortsighted and stupid in their own unique ways. There are some shipyards with work, mostly military vessels, but most ships nowadays are foreign-built and often foreign-owned too.
Hamilton-Paterson then focuses on the defence industry. It is a very lucrative business, even before you get into the shady and dodgy business practices that are employed when dealing with some of the more corrupt governments around the world. There is often a revolving door between businesses, politicians, high-level military personnel and civil servants. Those who have awarded contracts seem to end up on the boards of the companies that have won the contracts. All very shabby… On top of that, almost every project seems to go over budget and time, and then doesn’t always work properly. Probably our best defence is to provide our shonky kit to our enemies…
Motorcycling – the dream of the open road and the sweeping bends. The reality is, flies in your teeth and avoiding all the idiots who seem to never see anyone on two wheels on the road. When I started riding motorbikes many, many years ago, I had a Japanese bike as all the British motorbikes had gone. And this time it couldn’t be blamed on the unions; rather, it was down to management ineptitude. The boards had no interest or knowledge of motorcycles or engineering. Couple that with complacency and an unwillingness to adapt to changing market conditions, and the industry was doomed.
Around the time of WW2, it could be said that Britain was a world leader in many fields and technologies. Sadly, it wouldn’t be long after the war that we lost those leads. Sometimes this was because of stupid decisions that we had made, other times, nuclear being the example covered in the book, were because the Americans deliberately stopped sharing information on the new technology.
As an engineer, I appreciated his scathing indictment of the lack of support from all levels of government and industry for engineering and STEM. The institutes that we finally did get, some 60-plus years after the French and Germans, were largely ineffective. Most shocking for me was learning about the systematic dismantling of the Industrial Training Boards after the government came under pressure from industry, who were reluctant to pay for training. By doing this, they have been agents of their own demise as skilled people have retired and changed roles mean that there is a dearth of people being able to do the work we need.
The final two chapters of the book are equally scathing of the way that the rich and political class, often known as the great and the good, have flogged off all the family silver, burnt all the wooden furniture and even sold the handcart we should have been going to hell in. It has been an enormous transfer of public wealth to the private sector, even larger than the land lost under the enclosure acts.
I think that he is completely right in everything that he says in this book, and I implore you to read it. Then start to push for political change to improve everyone’s lot in this country.
Politicians of a certain political hue want to sell the dream of nostalgia, the notion that everything was much better back in the day. We’d won a war (with a lot of help from others), and life then was villages with roses growing around the door of a thatched cottage. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t… Life for most people was nasty, brutish, and often short, unless they were born chinless and inbred, and had a substantial part of a county as their land and their home.
We were the first nation to industrialise, and then at the end of the 20th century, we were the first nation to become post-industrial as the politicians of the time embraced the service and banking industries. Hamilton-Paterson describes the banking sector as a parasite on the British economy, and I can’t say I disagree with his point of view.
He goes on to explain how those who fill the corridors of the now exclusive public schools and gain entry to the premier universities have no interest in STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics). This is something that almost every other country puts as its priority.
You would think that the country that invented railways would have the best and most comprehensive network in the world. But you’d be wrong. The modern railway network costs the country more in subsidies than it used to when it was fully nationalised. Madness. Add the amount it is subsidised to the vast fares that the private sector charges, and you can see that the promise of privatisation being better value for the consumer was one great lie. Transport planning has never been a strong point of successive governments and the civil service. The unnecessary Beeching cuts on the railways, to the laughable and bonkers decisions on airports, mostly surrounding London.
The demise of the railways was driven (sic) by the rise of the car and road lobby. They had the politician and civil servants by the short and curlies, and they ensured that all policy decisions on transport prioritised roads. In a sense of irony that you couldn’t make up, Hamilton-Paterson goes on to describe just how awful most British cars were. Add to that heady mix of poor quality and design, the shocking management of the companies and the inflexible and unhelpful union leaders made everything ten times worse. This is why we have no UK owned car manufacturers. The captains of industry and policy makers still managed to get and keep their gongs for services to industry… As there is no comprehensive transport policy, and the poor planning of the road network, we are in the top ten for the gridlocked roads in the world.
As a nation surrounded by the sea, we have always built our own boats and ships. It used to be a massive industry, but in recent years it has dwindled somewhat, partly because of shipyard management failing to adopt new construction techniques and unions also failing to embrace these changes. Both camps were shortsighted and stupid in their own unique ways. There are some shipyards with work, mostly military vessels, but most ships nowadays are foreign-built and often foreign-owned too.
Hamilton-Paterson then focuses on the defence industry. It is a very lucrative business, even before you get into the shady and dodgy business practices that are employed when dealing with some of the more corrupt governments around the world. There is often a revolving door between businesses, politicians, high-level military personnel and civil servants. Those who have awarded contracts seem to end up on the boards of the companies that have won the contracts. All very shabby… On top of that, almost every project seems to go over budget and time, and then doesn’t always work properly. Probably our best defence is to provide our shonky kit to our enemies…
Motorcycling – the dream of the open road and the sweeping bends. The reality is, flies in your teeth and avoiding all the idiots who seem to never see anyone on two wheels on the road. When I started riding motorbikes many, many years ago, I had a Japanese bike as all the British motorbikes had gone. And this time it couldn’t be blamed on the unions; rather, it was down to management ineptitude. The boards had no interest or knowledge of motorcycles or engineering. Couple that with complacency and an unwillingness to adapt to changing market conditions, and the industry was doomed.
Around the time of WW2, it could be said that Britain was a world leader in many fields and technologies. Sadly, it wouldn’t be long after the war that we lost those leads. Sometimes this was because of stupid decisions that we had made, other times, nuclear being the example covered in the book, were because the Americans deliberately stopped sharing information on the new technology.
As an engineer, I appreciated his scathing indictment of the lack of support from all levels of government and industry for engineering and STEM. The institutes that we finally did get, some 60-plus years after the French and Germans, were largely ineffective. Most shocking for me was learning about the systematic dismantling of the Industrial Training Boards after the government came under pressure from industry, who were reluctant to pay for training. By doing this, they have been agents of their own demise as skilled people have retired and changed roles mean that there is a dearth of people being able to do the work we need.
The final two chapters of the book are equally scathing of the way that the rich and political class, often known as the great and the good, have flogged off all the family silver, burnt all the wooden furniture and even sold the handcart we should have been going to hell in. It has been an enormous transfer of public wealth to the private sector, even larger than the land lost under the enclosure acts.
I think that he is completely right in everything that he says in this book, and I implore you to read it. Then start to push for political change to improve everyone’s lot in this country.
February 14, 2022
What We Have Lost – An Important debate
James Hamilton-Paterson takes us on a journey of remembrance about what we as a country used to do and how we managed to make a mess of it. Many refer back to the 1970s and the power of the trade unions, and it is easy to set the blame at them. They are one of a many architects of Britain’s downward slide from making things to saying things, politicians, business men and its usually men, along with the owners of the press, protecting their profits at the expense of the people who buy their papers.
When push came to shove between 1939 and 1945 this small island nation produced around 125,000 aircraft, massive amounts of shipping, military and merchant, motor vehicles of every description, armaments, and textiles. Yes, it was a war, yes we all came together, but still a small nation did that with some help admittedly. But we British made things that worked because we needed too.
This country also developed radar, antibiotics, the jet engine, the computer, the internet and even ahead of the USA on the development of television. Within seventy years the major industries we had which made Britain an industrial power, employed millions was dead. Some say it withered on the vine, allowed to die by politicians, and that is true to an extent. Poor leadership and lack of investment had many masters.
It has been argued that laisse-faire died out in the 19th century, but did it really? As the author states there has been a laisse-faire indolence that has become something of a national pastime which has carried over in our attitude to what we do. Laisse-faire attitudes have fired the British occupation of short-termism towards industry, investment and politics. So much so that our Government (of all shades) has an ingrained short termism that has ruined the state of this country and make us unable to face risk.
The author makes the sensible argument that deep in the British character is an underlying distaste for science and industry. Some of us dislike so much we are glad we do not do anything technical. So when Brexit came we are making very little and still dislike the idea of science and industry, but we bemoan we don’t make anything. One only has to look back to the 19th century and the industrial revolution, many saw these places of industry as just dirty, corrupt, money-grabbing heartless citadels of Mammon.
As Hamilton-Paterson quite rightly points out the myth building that the country undertook in the forms of poetry, literature. Think of the mythical English rose-girt cottage of hospitable inns that never went away. The benign view of the landowner as the genial country squire, we all know how much of that is a lie.
One of my favourite stories in this book is about the Mini, a British success I know, great design, great price, every inch a British success story. Pity it was making a loss. Ford bought a mini and stripped it down to understand the pricing of the car and took it down to the last nut and bolt. They found that the makers BMC, were losing a tidy £30 per car especially when the car in the showroom of £496 including tax. It was found that BMC were not very good at inventory costings, something which affected all their production. The managers had no idea how much the mini cost to build so charged £30 less than they were making it for. The incompetence of management.
The more you read this book the more you become angry. Angry at the management and unions who did themselves out of jobs. Angry at Politicians for selling us lie after lie. Even if one does have to take your hat off to Mrs Thatcher for selling us something we already owned with slick marketing and plenty of lies. It is not like energy or water has been a success, especially when you think of the Billions a few have taken out while the country slowly freezes to death.
We could go on about the lie Edward Heath made when signing Britain up for the EEC as it was and for not telling the people about a secret clause. That secret clause being fought over is fish, the British were not told that there was a secret clause which signed away British rights without our permission. Treachery not telling the British that we had no say who could come into British waters claiming rights that belonged to the British. Heath did this as a sweetener to get French support for British access to the EEC.
But as the current government is so much invested in Victorian values, it has brought back to the country, regular cases of tuberculosis, scarlet fever, measles, and rickets. At least they have brought Victorian poverty back, they are good at that.
An excellent book, but do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure!
James Hamilton-Paterson takes us on a journey of remembrance about what we as a country used to do and how we managed to make a mess of it. Many refer back to the 1970s and the power of the trade unions, and it is easy to set the blame at them. They are one of a many architects of Britain’s downward slide from making things to saying things, politicians, business men and its usually men, along with the owners of the press, protecting their profits at the expense of the people who buy their papers.
When push came to shove between 1939 and 1945 this small island nation produced around 125,000 aircraft, massive amounts of shipping, military and merchant, motor vehicles of every description, armaments, and textiles. Yes, it was a war, yes we all came together, but still a small nation did that with some help admittedly. But we British made things that worked because we needed too.
This country also developed radar, antibiotics, the jet engine, the computer, the internet and even ahead of the USA on the development of television. Within seventy years the major industries we had which made Britain an industrial power, employed millions was dead. Some say it withered on the vine, allowed to die by politicians, and that is true to an extent. Poor leadership and lack of investment had many masters.
It has been argued that laisse-faire died out in the 19th century, but did it really? As the author states there has been a laisse-faire indolence that has become something of a national pastime which has carried over in our attitude to what we do. Laisse-faire attitudes have fired the British occupation of short-termism towards industry, investment and politics. So much so that our Government (of all shades) has an ingrained short termism that has ruined the state of this country and make us unable to face risk.
The author makes the sensible argument that deep in the British character is an underlying distaste for science and industry. Some of us dislike so much we are glad we do not do anything technical. So when Brexit came we are making very little and still dislike the idea of science and industry, but we bemoan we don’t make anything. One only has to look back to the 19th century and the industrial revolution, many saw these places of industry as just dirty, corrupt, money-grabbing heartless citadels of Mammon.
As Hamilton-Paterson quite rightly points out the myth building that the country undertook in the forms of poetry, literature. Think of the mythical English rose-girt cottage of hospitable inns that never went away. The benign view of the landowner as the genial country squire, we all know how much of that is a lie.
One of my favourite stories in this book is about the Mini, a British success I know, great design, great price, every inch a British success story. Pity it was making a loss. Ford bought a mini and stripped it down to understand the pricing of the car and took it down to the last nut and bolt. They found that the makers BMC, were losing a tidy £30 per car especially when the car in the showroom of £496 including tax. It was found that BMC were not very good at inventory costings, something which affected all their production. The managers had no idea how much the mini cost to build so charged £30 less than they were making it for. The incompetence of management.
The more you read this book the more you become angry. Angry at the management and unions who did themselves out of jobs. Angry at Politicians for selling us lie after lie. Even if one does have to take your hat off to Mrs Thatcher for selling us something we already owned with slick marketing and plenty of lies. It is not like energy or water has been a success, especially when you think of the Billions a few have taken out while the country slowly freezes to death.
We could go on about the lie Edward Heath made when signing Britain up for the EEC as it was and for not telling the people about a secret clause. That secret clause being fought over is fish, the British were not told that there was a secret clause which signed away British rights without our permission. Treachery not telling the British that we had no say who could come into British waters claiming rights that belonged to the British. Heath did this as a sweetener to get French support for British access to the EEC.
But as the current government is so much invested in Victorian values, it has brought back to the country, regular cases of tuberculosis, scarlet fever, measles, and rickets. At least they have brought Victorian poverty back, they are good at that.
An excellent book, but do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure!
October 23, 2019
This book is an informal and personal tour of the industrial decline of Britain, most especially since the end of the Second World War. This is a subject close to my heart. Being a (now middle-aged) engineer, I am old enough to remember Sheffield as an industrial town with real smoke stacks and the Midlands as still an industrial heartland. My own flat, built in 1985, has quaint door fittings and locks stamped "Made in England". My own career in design engineering started in GEC. Now the company I worked for is owned by Germans (having been owned by French on the meantime).
James H-P looks in particular at shipbuilding, motorcycle manufacturing, the car industry, the defence industry, and a few others. He identifies factors I would certainly agree with: lousy management, senior executives happy to live off mediocrity and outdated equipment rather than striving to lead the world, militant unions being largely a response to this. In addition, the indifference of a privileged caste of City executives and speculators lacking any social or direct financial interest in the fate of the nation's industries. Why should they? City financiers can make money anywhere they like. If the Midlands is a wasteland, why should they care? They have their own schools, hospitals, clubs, neighbourhoods, society... They don't have to have anything to do with the plebeianry, so they ignore it.
I felt, though, that the text was long-winded and lacking in conclusions apart from rather implausible ones along the lines that the British don't like business.
James H-P looks in particular at shipbuilding, motorcycle manufacturing, the car industry, the defence industry, and a few others. He identifies factors I would certainly agree with: lousy management, senior executives happy to live off mediocrity and outdated equipment rather than striving to lead the world, militant unions being largely a response to this. In addition, the indifference of a privileged caste of City executives and speculators lacking any social or direct financial interest in the fate of the nation's industries. Why should they? City financiers can make money anywhere they like. If the Midlands is a wasteland, why should they care? They have their own schools, hospitals, clubs, neighbourhoods, society... They don't have to have anything to do with the plebeianry, so they ignore it.
I felt, though, that the text was long-winded and lacking in conclusions apart from rather implausible ones along the lines that the British don't like business.
August 16, 2020
Released: 4th November 2018
Genre: Non-Fiction, Society
Number of Pages: 341
Many would agree that the UK is in a very dark place right now; political tribalism, botched plans and a considerable amount of anger and bitterness among the populous; James Hamilton-Paterson argues that the nation’s downward spiral really began decades earlier with the dismantling of Britain’s industries.
From 1945 to present Paterson charts an agonising inability to adapt and work out a way forward. Political ineptitude, an inability to compete and a refusal from society to move forward; these are just some of the causes presented in What We Have Lost. With one chapter per industry, the author typically brings together commentary from the time, his own viewpoint and broader occurrences in society. This includes car, motorbike and ship building as well as our engineering, fishing and nuclear sectors. Many of these either went bankrupt or were sold off to foreign investors.
With the many areas of manufacturing discussed, there’s a consistent theme that runs through Paterson’s reflections; a lack of collective planning for the country as a whole. He deftly weaves this idea throughout the chapters without pinning the blame on one political faction or individual over another. Instead he shows how collectively, the decisions of politicians and the direction the UK took after the Second World War slowly pulled it down from the dominance it once held. One sobering moment comes when Paterson describes a former RAF naval commander; having long been made redundant from his position, the man lives in the past, hoarding together past memorabilia and growing more reclusive since his wife passed away. Paterson uses this as an analogy for the UK itself to brilliant effect and packs every dissection with plenty of detail.
To tie everything together, the author writes a final reflection on where Great Britain is and it’s a very heart-wrenching anecdote. You can feel the disappointment from Paterson here as he believes that the country has refused to tackle its long-rooted problems. As a means of tying things together, the concluding chapter lands with great impact, doubly so for older readers who have witnessed the UK change through the decades. It speaks to a suitably bleak direction for the country.
Recommended?
YES: It doesn’t make for easy reading, but What We Have Lost is a very well-presented look at a nation’s decline from an author with many a lived experience. Paterson deftly explores each field of industry across the chapters, providing a clear and well supported reason for each, while also touching on the societal and political shifts that came about. The book’s only drawback is its somewhat eloquent, somewhat older-style manner of description which may not appeal to everyone.
Genre: Non-Fiction, Society
Number of Pages: 341
Many would agree that the UK is in a very dark place right now; political tribalism, botched plans and a considerable amount of anger and bitterness among the populous; James Hamilton-Paterson argues that the nation’s downward spiral really began decades earlier with the dismantling of Britain’s industries.
From 1945 to present Paterson charts an agonising inability to adapt and work out a way forward. Political ineptitude, an inability to compete and a refusal from society to move forward; these are just some of the causes presented in What We Have Lost. With one chapter per industry, the author typically brings together commentary from the time, his own viewpoint and broader occurrences in society. This includes car, motorbike and ship building as well as our engineering, fishing and nuclear sectors. Many of these either went bankrupt or were sold off to foreign investors.
With the many areas of manufacturing discussed, there’s a consistent theme that runs through Paterson’s reflections; a lack of collective planning for the country as a whole. He deftly weaves this idea throughout the chapters without pinning the blame on one political faction or individual over another. Instead he shows how collectively, the decisions of politicians and the direction the UK took after the Second World War slowly pulled it down from the dominance it once held. One sobering moment comes when Paterson describes a former RAF naval commander; having long been made redundant from his position, the man lives in the past, hoarding together past memorabilia and growing more reclusive since his wife passed away. Paterson uses this as an analogy for the UK itself to brilliant effect and packs every dissection with plenty of detail.
To tie everything together, the author writes a final reflection on where Great Britain is and it’s a very heart-wrenching anecdote. You can feel the disappointment from Paterson here as he believes that the country has refused to tackle its long-rooted problems. As a means of tying things together, the concluding chapter lands with great impact, doubly so for older readers who have witnessed the UK change through the decades. It speaks to a suitably bleak direction for the country.
Recommended?
YES: It doesn’t make for easy reading, but What We Have Lost is a very well-presented look at a nation’s decline from an author with many a lived experience. Paterson deftly explores each field of industry across the chapters, providing a clear and well supported reason for each, while also touching on the societal and political shifts that came about. The book’s only drawback is its somewhat eloquent, somewhat older-style manner of description which may not appeal to everyone.
January 30, 2025
yea were done for
November 27, 2025
I read this book in some ways to confront some of my prejudices, I tend to lean broadly to the left on most issues and in a nation seemingly presently grasping at flags and nostalgic whimsy of a right wing variety...well from this book I suspected maybe I would see the other side of the picture.
However this isnt really this sort of book as it doesn't apportion blame wholly on a political elite nor the loss of britishness through migration and globalisation, such things may be covered for instance it was interesting to read how the fishing quota thing was a genuine EU/weak parliment issue but the book really pointed out the EU wasnt the real problem.
successive weak government and the inability to support industry at times of times of struggle and crucially development of ideas was the real issue.
I say was...is...managers who know how to manage but dont have an affinity with their product so unable to grasp the development proffered by engineers being one reason.
the times Britain should have led but fell back or let someone else grab the ball are shown in their multitude.
various industries..shipbuilding...cars..motorbikes..fishing and weaponary are covered as is our selling out of them to embrace a service model.
the book doesnt end really on a optimistic note but how could it?..laissez faire government is still here a true visionary government but a pale promise.
a good read but pretty much one close to my own opinions afterall.
However this isnt really this sort of book as it doesn't apportion blame wholly on a political elite nor the loss of britishness through migration and globalisation, such things may be covered for instance it was interesting to read how the fishing quota thing was a genuine EU/weak parliment issue but the book really pointed out the EU wasnt the real problem.
successive weak government and the inability to support industry at times of times of struggle and crucially development of ideas was the real issue.
I say was...is...managers who know how to manage but dont have an affinity with their product so unable to grasp the development proffered by engineers being one reason.
the times Britain should have led but fell back or let someone else grab the ball are shown in their multitude.
various industries..shipbuilding...cars..motorbikes..fishing and weaponary are covered as is our selling out of them to embrace a service model.
the book doesnt end really on a optimistic note but how could it?..laissez faire government is still here a true visionary government but a pale promise.
a good read but pretty much one close to my own opinions afterall.
August 7, 2022
La tentazione di cominciare con “mal comune, mezzo gaudio” è forte, lo ammetto. Anni, anzi decenni, di denigrazioni e confronti impari sull’inaffidabilità complessiva dell’Italia seppelliti da un reportage impietoso sui fallimenti industriali del Paese che quella rivoluzione avviò con furore. Poi, più mestamente, ci si deve soffermare su un fenomeno (la delocalizzazione) che ha invertito l’ordine delle priorità nelle economie occidentali. Dunque, non è solo la Gran Bretagna ad aver perso tutti i suoi punti di riferimento nei settori nei quali era stata lungo leader. Peraltro, l’autore non cerca scuse o generalizzazioni, sostenendo con una rabbia a stento trattenuta che la ragione principale di tale crollo non sta nell’inevitabilità dei processi in un’economia globalizzata, ma nella radicata incapacità delle classi dirigenti di volta in volta al potere di trovare soluzioni alternative e potenti a un declino, secondo l’autore, tutt’altro che irreversibile. Un ritratto impietoso che non risparmia neppure il carattere nazionale, ritenuto troppo individualista e presuntuoso per considerare utile prodigarsi in sforzi intellettuali al fine di mantenere Grande la Bretagna.
October 17, 2019
I thought that this might have been a wobble. Surely, from the concept to the title, this exercise must be a deep dive into indulgent nostalgia! Surely it would be the kind of limp conservatism that leads to lazy thinking and meaningless observations.
Hell no. From the opening chapter, wherein Hamilton-Paterson "interviews" an elderly wartime aviator with a claim to fame, but whose fascination with the past has led to a consuming and blind amnesia, there is little indication of lazy thinking here. Instead, there are focused and highly technologically-focused chapters on manufacturing and industry. And they're great!
Now, I do have a few complaints, as H-P doesn't go into some of the big-picture reasons for these changes - things like post-industrial financialism and the effects of climate change seem pertinent but fail to emerge properly, and there's little attention to the effects of political decay in its more gritty details, but those are minor complaints to what is ultimately a strong, able showing. Very recommended for those interested in contemporary English history!
Hell no. From the opening chapter, wherein Hamilton-Paterson "interviews" an elderly wartime aviator with a claim to fame, but whose fascination with the past has led to a consuming and blind amnesia, there is little indication of lazy thinking here. Instead, there are focused and highly technologically-focused chapters on manufacturing and industry. And they're great!
Now, I do have a few complaints, as H-P doesn't go into some of the big-picture reasons for these changes - things like post-industrial financialism and the effects of climate change seem pertinent but fail to emerge properly, and there's little attention to the effects of political decay in its more gritty details, but those are minor complaints to what is ultimately a strong, able showing. Very recommended for those interested in contemporary English history!
October 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this book which is somewhat masochistic for an Englishman to say - but I have seen this loss. The quote from the Motor Bike manufacturer that his customers like oily unreliable bikes they made because they liked having to tinker with them at the weekends is priceless, it sums up the blinkered, smug, self satisfied attitude of the British Establishment since 1945. The spiral of decay has been stunning and all the stranger set against a GDP that is 5th (about) in the world - who has got the loot? It certainly hasn't trickled up to the North of England. Many of the arguments have been influenced by Correlli Barnett but in a more condensed form. Cry my beloved country.
March 10, 2022
This could be seen as an old man’s rant about the state of the country, it’s certainly polemical enough, but it’s a bit more subtle and generous than that. Hamilton-Paterson traces the decline of a number of British industries and touches on the state of British politics. It’s both interesting and entertaining, but it doesn’t really reach any firm conclusions. One area that’s not covered that perhaps is indicative of the rise and fall of British industry is the fate of the electronic industry. It follows the pattern of many of the declines that Hamilton-Paterson talks about, but over a shorter time period.
Overall, an interesting read, but lacks a punch.
Overall, an interesting read, but lacks a punch.
April 8, 2026
Absolutely tiresome. Paterson is not a historian and it’s painfully apparent, rather a ‘poet’ and novelist.
A terribly bias piece of writing, which whilst containing a fair amount of interesting historical information is constantly let down by the authors personal left wing upper class bias. The need to force Brexit into to so many sections whilst complaining about his rich uncle owning a Bentley whilst ranting multiple times about how much he hates cars.
Two stars for containing a bit of interesting info.
A terribly bias piece of writing, which whilst containing a fair amount of interesting historical information is constantly let down by the authors personal left wing upper class bias. The need to force Brexit into to so many sections whilst complaining about his rich uncle owning a Bentley whilst ranting multiple times about how much he hates cars.
Two stars for containing a bit of interesting info.
April 5, 2020
A whimsical reflection of one man’s thoughts on ‘what’s wrong with the nation today’.
Some valid points but not a scientific study of objective data and swerves into ‘in my day’ whataboutery at times.
As a reader not well versed In some of the eras referred to, I enjoyed learning about some of the British brands and share some of the lament but ultimately this will be enjoyed by elder states people who think the world has gone to pot.
Some valid points but not a scientific study of objective data and swerves into ‘in my day’ whataboutery at times.
As a reader not well versed In some of the eras referred to, I enjoyed learning about some of the British brands and share some of the lament but ultimately this will be enjoyed by elder states people who think the world has gone to pot.
December 30, 2025
Very worth the read, despite it filling me with anger and despair every time I picked it up. Highlighted to me that Thatcherism was a symptom and not the sole cause of Britain’s industrial decline, made me consider a lot more widely the attitudes of British politicians and upper-classes as a whole towards manufacturing and education
July 25, 2020
Interesting in places, but somewhat of a "grumpy old man" diatribe. I learnt quite a bit about the demise of the British motorcycle industry, but otherwise I learnt little more. However, it does provide an insight to the thoughts of those who look back to what they see as sunnier times.
February 16, 2023
Interesting points. All too sad to think that some of the damage could have been avoided with better planning!
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