From: Neil Francis, [EMAIL PROTECTED] >*To order signed copies of the paperback edition of Peter >Hitchen's book The Abolition Of Britain (�7plus 99p UKp&p), >send a cheque/PO for �7.99 to the Express Bookshop, 250 Western >Avenue London W3 6EE, or call 0870 9019101. Peter Hitchens has taken every opportunity over the past 12 months to publicize his book. Has anyone on the list read it? Anyone who has read any of his articles in the Express will probably have no need to read it as little extra info will be gained - it is the same rhetoric he spouts there week after week. A pity - as he has sometimes has some good points to raise. The book is classic Hitchens - it is basically a rant which cherry picks and exaggerates the 'problems' he sees as being involved in the downfall of Britain. It never offers any solutions to these problems however, apart from a constant harping on about returning to the values of the 1950s where everything was always 'all right'. He seems to be very proud of the fact that he was the one who first brought to our attention the hysterical element of society following Princess Diana's death. Its true he mentioned this at the time but so did many others. That's what the book is full of - he selectively isolates particular issues and embellishes them to such an extent that you end up wondering if he is serious. He is by the way. An example - he actually cites the introduction of the metric system to the UK in 1971 as a root cause of the decline of mathematical standards in schools. Confused? I'll say. His logic to this is that the ease of use of a decimal counting system in our day to day currency means children do not have the mental arithmetic skills they used to while working out the old LSD system. I kid you not - this is in the book. He similarly points to the electronic tills at supermarket checkouts being a problem. Of course what he fails to mention that the very reason that new automatic tills were introduced at supermarkets, and everywhere else, was that the old methods were so crap and so many mistakes were being made that it was essential to upgrade to stay in business. Hitchens' views are based on tradition, misguided nostalgia, a middle class grammar school upbringing, a blind following of Christian religion (and the singular belief that true morals can only come from religion), institution and a belief that the white British male is a truly superior being. The book is probably not worth buying but it is probably worth reading - get your local library to order a copy - or borrow one from someone who already has it. Neil Francis Trowbridge, UK ------------------------ [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------[Cybershooters contacts]-------- Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
