A beautifully-written and thought-provoking collection of essays on social, political and literary issues as diverse as the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand controversy, violent crime on Britain's streets, the effects of the welfare state, modern architecture and the respective merits of Shakespeare and Dr Johnson. Dalrymple uses examples from his long career as a prison doctor and his travels to every corner of the globe to illustrate his central view: that Britain is in the throes of social, cultural and political decline.