Strangeland cover art

Strangeland

How Britain Stopped Making Sense

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Strangeland

By: Jon Sopel
Narrated by: Jon Sopel
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From Jon Sopel, bestselling author and presenter of hit podcast The News Agents, comes an incisive examination of post-Brexit Britain and what it means for our future.

Returning to the UK in some ways has been disconcerting – or maybe discombobulating would be a better word. It is, after all, my home; it is where I grew up, a country I love and am proud of. But either it’s changed, or I have. Maybe both.
It just feels like a strange land.

At the beginning of 2022, after eight years of political reporting in the US, Jon Sopel returned home to the UK – and having spent almost a third of his career abroad, he found a very different place to the one he left. In Strangeland, his first book since launching the global hit podcast The News Agents, he asks: What is the Britain he’s come home to?

In the US, Jon was the outsider looking in, firm in the belief that the common language of English masked our fundamental differences; in terms of values and beliefs, it seemed the British had much more in common with our European neighbours.

Strangeland is Jon’s account of how much that has changed. The US was a country he thought he knew well but didn’t really; returning home has been in some ways even more disconcerting – either Britain, the country he grew up in, has changed dramatically, or he has. Perhaps it’s both.

A trenchant analysis of politics, people, and everything in between, Strangeland is an unforgettable portrait of a country gone through the looking glass.

'I like and trust Jon Sopel and you should too' - Joe Lycett
'A hugely entertaining and quite traumatic rollercoaster' - Armando Iannucci
'A thrilling, nerve-wracking book. You couldn't make the last ten years up; thanks to Jon Sopel, you don't have to' - Peter Frankopan
'Acute and unflinching - Sopel deploys his foreign correspondent skills on home shores as well as far ones, and brings together the story of a tumultuous few years on both sides of the Atlantic' - Mishal Husain

©2024 Jon Sopel (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Europe Great Britain Politics & Government Social Sciences United Kingdom

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All stars
Most relevant  
It was informative, engaging and interesting. Bought on Thursday and finished by Sunday. 100% recommended

Excellent

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An excellent thought provoking and balanced view of the world today, well worth investing your time to listen to Jon Sopel!

Well balanced view

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Clear and informative. I very much enjoyed the book and context. Democracy has never felt so fragile in our lifetime!

informative & terrifying

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Jon has such a truthful and real voice on the events both here and in the US over the past few years. His frankness and openness about his love and fear for our country is refreshing and nuanced

Didn’t want it to end!

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Jon Sopel writes from the rare position of being a journalist who left his home country for many years while working abroad. When he returned to his home country so much had changed within society that he is perfectly suited to give an incisive analysis of those differences. He is not only viewing as an objective outsider, but simultaneously as a product of the society whose standards of behaviour had changed little for many years, until now. it is an excellent read, and deserves attention and consideration.

this book will make you think

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Really good, interesting and thoughtful. I think Jon gave some well-balanced and carefully worded arguments on highly contentious issues. The book seemed to me very slightly scattergun in the sense that there was no clear A->B argument being made, more a meander through the mess we're in. But that's not a criticism, it was an enjoyable and enlightening meander, and I recommend it.

Excellent

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Another great Jon Sopel book. Loved his previous titles. If you to liked the previous titles, you will enjoy this.

Great book

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A pure joy to listen to this magnificent piece of journalism. Well done to John Sopel on a great book.

Excellent

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John sets out the worry circumstances that we are now in and how we got here. Surely we can agree to disagree together and move towards a better world more sanely?

A must read- even more so now

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Brilliant which is reassuring. In my 60 years on this planet, I have seen my country grow, develop and change, however, the last 15 to 20 years the UK has changed for the worse. From growth the culture, I just don’t recognise this place anymore. JS has helped me understand why.

I’m not alone!

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