Abstract

This chapter presents the two faces of Britain; on the one hand, there is the idyllic representation of it as “an astounding collection of busy cities, towns rife with history, quaint villages, looming castle, cathedrals, mansions and abbeys,” and on the other there is the darker and more realistic view of it as “a cosmopolitan mix of Third and First Worlds, chauffeurs and beggars, the stubbornly traditional and the proudly avant garde.” It also explains how, despite the fact that the national iconography used to present Britain does not fit with actuality, it still persists as a representation of its landscape.