This book is a psephological examination into British attitudes throughout the country but with a specific emphasis on how burgeoning English nationalism has come to impact policy， constitutional reform as well as the preference of voters for a change in the future to the infrastructural and institutional architecture of the Union。 The book shows clearly that since at least 2015 Britain has， in effect， become a union of four entrenched differentiated national electorates - which raises the quest This book is a psephological examination into British attitudes throughout the country but with a specific emphasis on how burgeoning English nationalism has come to impact policy， constitutional reform as well as the preference of voters for a change in the future to the infrastructural and institutional architecture of the Union。 The book shows clearly that since at least 2015 Britain has， in effect， become a union of four entrenched differentiated national electorates - which raises the question: can Westminster continue to be simultaneously the parliament of both Britain and England， as it is widely considered to be in the wake of devolution？ The authors approach this by exploring views on England within Britain， English views on the rest of Britain （as well as Britain in a wider， world context） and whether the attitudes of those who consider themselves British， instead of prioritising a sub-state identity， are more similar or different depending on their locale within the Union。The impressive breadth of the task undertaken in this book cannot be understated。 In examining the prevalence of territorial identities and the relative intensity of association at both the state and sub-state level - as well as trying to discover exactly what Englishness or English identity means - the authors have had to weave together a web of incongruous relationships。 The fact they were able to paint a coherent picture of a hitherto little acknowledged， if not scorned， identity which wields enormous political influence in a non-partisan way deserves great praise。 Nevertheless， I did find it a bit peculiar that the book mentions how Englishness can be seen both through an ethnic and civic lens but then goes on to primarily consider these things with analysis overwhelmingly dedicated to the demos （‘English not British’） that must， surely， for the most part， be associated with the former， considering I would assume most people believe your ancestry determines your ethnicity to at least some extent。 The authors’ one-way focus thus explains why they find the fact that people who identify as English feel more British than those who identify more as British do English to be a ‘striking asymmetry’， even though it is commonsensical。 Similarly， the authors failed to mention how the overwhelming majority of immigration into the UK ends up being into England。 As such， when they draw conclusions and say how interesting it is that more people in England do not identify with a sub-state identity， comparatively to Scotland and Wales， they ultimately fail to recognise that England is home to many more foreign born migrants than both Wales and Scotland。 To overlook something of this importance must border on benightedness and is， for me， slightly too regular an occurrence within this book。I greatly enjoyed the discussions around how various parts of the electorate and those with comparatively strong sub-state identities had views impacted strongly by where they live and how this， in turn， influenced and impacted both the Remain and Leave Brexit campaigns。 The way the authors were then able to show how these same attitudes - namely: perceived efficacy， views on devolution and proximity to， what they deem， an English worldview - played out in the context of the territorial integrity of the domestic Union was both extremely interesting and surprising。 Indeed， the book creates an impactful impression that Britain is， as they suggest， a union of ignorance born out of the fact ‘the union is not a four-nation partnership so much as a series of bilateral unions with England’， which is convincingly demonstrated。Whilst the book does an excellent job explaining the methodologies， results and inferences of the various data， it was a little frustrating at times presumably because of the fact I don’t come from a sociological background nor do I tend to read books so replete with plotted data， which meant I found several of the tables quite difficult - if not impossible - to decipher on my own。 Even though the inferences are well elucidated， I did find it humorous just how often they were described as ‘striking’; virtually every time。Ultimately， the book goes a long way in explaining the contemporary socio-political divisions within the UK。 A progressive， identity politics obsessed Labour Party， unsurprisingly， does well in London - our largest， most multicultural and multiracial city - but alienates itself from its traditional， patriotic base by hitching its wagon to a region that has more than ‘double the proportion of residents who describe their national identity as neither English nor British’。 Indeed， from the start， the book outlines the failure of centre and left wing parties in the UK to recognise the significance of respecting the wishes and attitudes of England qua England。 Relatedly， my favourite thing about this book is the exploration of what it means to be English， at least attitudinally， what the hallmarks and peculiarities of it are， and how distinctive it is。 As they opine， it is ’those who are more active in their communities and have greater connections with other individuals [that] are more likely to hold sub-state identities in Scotland and Wales， but in England it is those who are more isolated who are more likely to feel a stronger sense of sub-state identity’。 It is just as Orwell said of England: ‘It has a flavour of its own’。 。。。more