Suicide of a Nation

First published in 1963, this is an enquiry into the state of Britain. It was edited by Arthur Koestler and contains essays by contributors who include Henry Fairlie, Malcolm Muggeridge, Goronwy Rees, Michael Shanks, Andrew Shonfield, Austen Albu, Aidan Crawley, John Cole, Hugh Seton-Watson, John Mander, John Grigg (Lord Altrincham), Cyril Connolly, Marcus Cunliffe, Alan McGlashan, Elizabeth Young and John Vaizey. Providing the diagnosis rather that the therapy, the essays examine the root causes of Britain's economic plight, post-war foreign policy, education and culture, and the nature of Britishness. Koestler contends that the average Englishman is a hybrid of lion and ostrich; in times of emergency he rises magnificently to the occasion, and in between buries his head in the sand, convinced that reality is a nasty word invented by foreigners.