50 Things About Us: What We Really Need to Know About Britain

By Mark Thomas

50 THINGS ABOUT US is a fast and furiously funny journey through our national memory. It's about money, history, songs, gongs, wigs, unicorns, guns, bungs, sods of soil and rich fuckers.

'Patriotism is often the point where history and advertising intersect, and it was that brand of nationalism that Rees-Mogg and Johnson attempted to sell. It is a brand that can only hark backwards; a nostalgic nationalism built on half histories and wishes … The kind of patriotism where the poetry of John Betjeman sits alongside blaming migrants for TB.

'But that is not our story. In fact, it is far from the narrative so many of us are a part of.'

From self-deceptions on size, stature and space (clue: there's more than enough for everyone if we lose the golf courses) to the living links between empire, slavery, money and power, this is Mark Thomas' quest to remind us of the true and shared greatness of modern Britain.

Structured as a list of fifty crucial 'Things', and fresh from a lock-down spent interviewing hundreds of NHS workers for the Wellcome Collection permanent archive, this is Mark Thomas at his provocative, passionate best.

• Language: English
• Publisher: September Publishing
• Release date: Dec 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781912836574

Mark Thomas

Mark Thomas is the founder and president of Escoute Consulting, an IT governance consultancy focusing on helping enterprises realise benefits through risk and resource optimisation. As a nationally known ITIL and COBIT expert with more than 20 years of professional experience, Mark’s background spans leadership roles from data centre chief information officer (CIO) to management and IT consulting. Mark has led large teams in outsourced IT arrangements, conducted project management office (PMO), service management and governance activities for major project teams, and managed enterprise applications implementations across multiple industries. Mark has an array of industry experience in the healthcare, finance, manufacturing, services, high technology and government verticals. When he’s not travelling, Mark lives with his family in the Kansas City, MO, area and claims to be a ‘certified’ barbeque judge in his spare time.