Power And The Throne

Charter 88, whose staff and volunteers put together this book, is a campaign for a democratic written constitution and a culture of citizenship for Britain. It started in 1988, on the 300th anniversary of the revolution of 1688. It now has nearly 50,000 signatories and supporters.

This is the most important, wide-ranging and critical debate so far published on the monarchy. 
 
It is not concerned with the trivia and tragedy of the Windsor's personal lives. Instead, a glittering range of contributors from across the spectrum of opinion focus on what the monarchy means for Britain today. Do we - can we? - continue to live in what Anthony Barnett calls in a provocative introductory essay, "an empire state?" 
 
The essays include Charles Moore's stirring reassertion of the case for the crown and David Hare's denunciation of the "odious rituals of deference." Lady Longford assures us that the royal phoenix will rise from the ashes of the Windsor fire. Christopher Hitchens rebukes Shirely Williams and criticizes the monarchy for invading our privacy. Marina Warner dissects our fear of change. These and many others contribute to a debate conceived as a watershed. A debate that will be seen as having shattered the taboo on serious scrutiny of the monarchy.

Anthony Barnett

Roger Scruton

It has become increasingly apparent that in Britain the relationship between town and country is breaking down and that both are in crisis: policies concerning urbanisation, industry, housing and transport are in disarray, while new issues have arisen concerning the environment, farming, the rural economy, food quality. . . 
 
In Town and Country, members of the Town and Country Forum, a body established in 1995 to bring together influential and thoughtful people concerned with this issue, explore the many-faceted problem of the relationship between urban and rural communities, providing both a focus for debate and an authoritative reference point for contemporary argument. The contributors include academics, philosophers, writers, political activists, environmentalists and other experts on urban and rural affairs. The result is a book of immense importance raising fundamental questions about the way we live now.

Anthony Barnett

Books by Anthony Barnett

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