The Politics of Pain

Postwar England and the Rise of Nationalism

By: Fintan O'Toole

Narrated by: Bruce Mann

From one of the most perceptive observers of the English today comes a brilliantly insightful, mordantly funny account of their seemingly irrational embrace of nationalism.

England's recent lurch to the right appears to be but one example of the nationalist wave sweeping across the world, yet as acclaimed Irish critic Fintan O'Toole suggests in The Politics of Pain, it is, in reality, a phenomenon rooted in World War II. We must look not to the vagaries of the European Union but, instead, far back to the end of the British empire, if we hope to understand our most fraternal ally - and the royal mess in which the British now find themselves. O'Toole depicts a roiling nation that almost ludicrously dreams of a German invasion, if only to get the blood going, and that erupts in faux outrage over regulations on "prawn-flavored crisps." A sympathetic yet unsparing observer, O'Toole asks: How did a great nation bring itself to the point of such willful self-harm? His answer represents one of the most profound portraits of the English since Sarah Lyall's New York Times best seller The Anglo Files.

©2018, 2019 Fintan O'Toole (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Britain's stupidity

the delivery voice was harsh and offered no subtlety in my opinion. loved the content

Interesting book slaughtered by the narrator.

O'Toole gives a great insight on the how of Brexit as an English event.

The narrator however has such a lack of diction that it actually becomes a chore to listen to this highly entertaining book.