Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Gross Britain

A delightful little book called “Gross Britain” shows that one of the reasons we can be proud to be British is that we can laugh at ourselves.

Written by one “Taffy St. George McScot”, it is subtitled “The Antidote to Patriotism”.

We do insist on being known as Great Britain when we are probably no longer a great power. As the book jacket points out, some of the more common words used to describe Britain and the British are “eccentric”, “insular” and “peculiar”.

It goes on to suggest that “Gross Britain”, with its menagerie of oddballs and polite incompetents, might well be your cup of tea.

It certainly might. “Gross Britain” is full of basically true facts, which together make a hilarious account, although perhaps it’s as well that it was, apparently not written by one of those foreigners!

The book lets Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II have the last word. She once said “The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.”

You should be able to find “Gross Britain” in decent bookshops.