Description
The Brexit referendum presented the United Kingdom with its gravest political crisis since the Second World War. Not only did it throw into doubt the nation’s future for many years to come, but it also aggravated deeply-entrenched divisions in its perception of who it is and where it belongs.
Ian Stock argues that this crisis has been decades in the making, and results from a fundamental failure of the British to understand the reality of both their own geography and socio-political landscape – and that of of their neighbours. Unlike continental countries, history and war have never forced a fundamental re-think into the nature of British society; indeed, it has been used as a pretext to retain a status quo that has served the nation increasingly badly in modern times.
Part travelogue, part current affairs, It’s a Bit Late for that Now reflects Ian’s own journey from a mid-century provincial British up-bringing to his present firmly pro-European stance. Bringing a geographer’s eye to his experiences in various countries, he discusses how his worldview was altered by the realisation that his home country is perhaps not the Eldorado of popular stereotype. He argues that many in Britain still rely on caricature and holiday experiences for their impressions of Europe, and that even some powerful establishment figures do not have an accurate or realistic understanding of the continent.
Written before the final Brexit outcome was known, this book provides much food for thought whatever eventually happens: if the U.K. does finally leave the E.U., it will need a far better appreciation of its real situation than it currently has, and if it decides to remain, then it will need to engage with Europe more fully than before, on more realistic terms. This book discusses the national re-think that is needed, no matter what the outcome.
Ian taught Geography, European Studies and Critical Thinking to Advanced Level in the U.K. and is very well-travelled within Europe. He has made frequent visits to the European Institutions and has long-standing friends in several other European countries. He is in an excellent position to argue that whatever their stance on Brexit, the British urgently need to up-date their own worldview.
This is Ian’s third book, and the first to be self-published.
