Lincoln Allison's Condition of England should be prescribed as an antidote to seizures of collective despair. In this time of national gloom, Dr Allison, who teaches politics and environmental planning at the University of Warwick, has offered the testament of an optimist. He provides reasons for contentment with the national lot, reminding his fellow-countrymen that they possess certain 'collective goods' - a land and a unique way of life - of inestimable value. English culture, he argues, is 'the richest and most resilient in the world', and the English environment one of the most satisfying.

LRB 3 December 1981 | PDF Download