The Voice of An Englishman

For he himself has said it
And it's greatly to his credit
That he is an Englishman . . .

Sir William Gilbert
HMN Pinafore


I'm not always a fan of Christopher Hitchens' -- his attacks on Mother Teresa and the Catholic Church are inexplicable, for example. But here he writes with defiance, courage and a righteous fury that recalls not only the fortitude of the Brits who withstood the Third Reich, but explains how a tiny island nation came to rule the world, at least for a while.