This England
From Free net encyclopedia
| Revision as of 23:42, 8 February 2006 82.41.85.29 (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Current revision 82.41.85.29 (Talk | contribs) |
Current revision
Image:This England cover.jpg This England is a quarterly magazine, published in spring, summer, autumn and winter, "for all those who love England's green and pleasant land". It appeals above all to a nostalgic, and largely expatriate, readership, concentrating on the values and customs of England, especially rural England, in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. The magazine started in 1967 with the slogan "As Refreshing as a Cup of Tea!"; it is still edited by its founder, Lincolnshire-born Roy Faiers, and is based in Cheltenham. It claims a readership of a quarter of a million.
It often displays a strongly anti-European and often reactionary and bigoted stance in its treatment of contemporary events, railing against metrication, the European Union, multiculturalism and other perceived threats to English identity. In the 1990s, it lent its support to New Britain, a very small right-wing political group, which it praised as "the organisation which is campaigning for a complete revival of our country".
In his 1998 book, The English: A Portrait of a People, Jeremy Paxman remarked that the magazine's greatest enemy was "the march of time", remarking that not one article in the magazine looks forward.
As well as selling recordings of music from the 1940s, it also offers traditional navy blue British passport covers for those who dislike the current European version, plus little British flags to "replace" the European flag which exists on the driving licence and the disabled "blue badge".
The letters in its "Post Box" section are from readers who reminisce about bygone days and complain about various changes in England in the past fifty years, while the "Don't Let Europe Rule Britannia" section is devoted to its campaign against the EU. Stuart Millson and, more surprisingly, Garry Bushell have written for the magazine at various times.
One recurring complaint from readers is that British immigration supposedly accords preferential treatment to black and Asian people who are British citizens, and to EU nationals like the French and the Germans, over their "kith and kin" (i.e. Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders of the same race), when arriving in the "Mother Country" from what it still calls the "British Commonwealth".
This England has a sister publication, Evergreen, which features little political content and tends to concentrate purely on nostalgia. Another publication from the same stable, Beautiful Britain, is launching in 2006.