A riveting narrative account of an England poised on the brink of enormous change from one of our finest journalists and writers.

A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 2022

'I can’t tell you how refreshing it is in these polarised times to read a book on politics that doesn’t have an axe to grind . . . an essential read.' The Sunday Times

'Subtle, sophisticated . . . compellingly told . . . This is a gentle and intelligent book, refreshingly unpolemical and reflective.' Observer Book of the Week

Jason Cowley, editor-in-chief of the New Statesman, examines contemporary England through a handful of the key news stories from recent times to reveal what they tell us about the state of the nation and to answer the question Who Are We Now?

Spanning the years since the election of Tony Blair’s New Labour government to the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, the book investigates how England has changed and how those changes have affected us. Cowley weaves together the seemingly disparate stories of the Chinese cockle-pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay, the East End Imam who was tested during a summer of terror, the pensioner who campaigned against the closure of her GP’s surgery and Gareth Southgate’s transformation of English football culture. And in doing so, Cowley shows the common threads that unite them, whether it is attitudes to class, nation, identity, belonging, immigration, or religion.

He also examines the so-called Brexit murder in Harlow, the haunting repatriation of the fallen in the Iraq and Afghan wars through Wootton Bassett, the Lancashire woman who took on Gordon Brown, and the flight of the Bethnal Green girls to Islamic State, fleshing out the headlines with the very human stories behind them.

Through these vivid and often moving stories, Cowley offers a clear and compassionate analysis of how and why England became so divided and the United Kingdom so fragmented, and how we got to this cultural and political crossroads. Most importantly, he also shows us the many ways in which there is genuine hope for the future.

"I can’t tell you how refreshing it is in these polarised times to read a book on politics that doesn’t have an axe to grind . . . It is wonderfully written, the pages littered with poetic and literary references, as you might expect from an outstanding journalist . . . an essential read." - The Sunday Times

"Subtle, sophisticated . . . compellingly told . . . This is a gentle and intelligent book, refreshingly unpolemical and reflective." - Observer Book of the Week

"

First-rate . . . [Cowley] is a broad-minded observer, a true liberal if that description may still be applied, and his elegance is all the more attractive for its absence of gloss . . . If you open this book for instruction, you may find much of value in the author’s selection of snapshots from his life and the lives of others. You will certainly read it with pleasure.

"Interesting . . . there is a certain Orwellian (in the best sense) curiosity and insightfulness" - Sunday Telegraph

"A balanced, insightful analysis of the past 30 years of English politics and identity, taking in New Labour, immigration, Brexit and the pandemic." - The Times '100 Best Books for Summer'

"The New Statesman editor goes back to his Essex roots in this intelligent book about patriotism, which confronts Orwell’s puzzle: why is “England perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality”?" - The Daily Telegraph 'Best Books for Summer'

"Fascinating . . . a pleasure to read. Cowley has an eye and an ear for the small details that add emotional depth to his reports." - Financial Times

"Urgent and timely . . . Cowley powerfully demonstrates how these vivid, half-forgotten stories have contributed to a fragmented England, and offers a vision for how we can embrace the lessons learned to build a bright new future." - Breaking News Ireland

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A liberal and humane analysis informed by quiet patriotism. [Cowley] doesn’t try to define what England “is” or represents but searches instead for its emotional and cultural underpinnings . . . ruminative and reflective, informed by observation and without polemics.

"National identity is at the heart of Who Are We Now? Stories of Modern England . . . It is told through a series of stories, merging the personal and the political – stories of conflict and division but also ultimately of hope." - New Statesman 'What to read this year: non-fiction'

"A trenchant, but also moving, personal analysis of why England has become so divided, which finds hope for the future in the compassion for others that characterized the pandemic." - Bookseller Ones to Watch

"Engaging . . . This is an important and readable book - a rare combination." - BookBrunch

"Despite the sadness and the concern, Cowley’s story is no jeremiad. He finds more grounds for hope than despair . . . The writing is excellent throughout, with an engagingly allusive literary quality." - Engelsberg Ideas