If Only They Didn't Speak English: Notes From Trump's America

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He doesn't dismiss Trump voters as "learning disabled" but suggests some rationale for their enthusiasm. He does help to explain the shocking election of Trump, recommending that we do not dismiss those who voted for him as class one eejits. Instead, Sopel thinks we are very, very different and those differences would be easier to see if we didn’t speak the same language. It is difficult to understand why the richest country in the world denies so many of its citizens basic health care - the most expensive and least efficient health system in the developed world (MATERNAL MORTALITY rates like theirs would have many of us donating to Oxfam, if we didn't know it was US, and therefore a deliberate choice by government, not lack of resources.

Beginning and ending with chapters that explain the Trump presidency, such as the anger that got him into power and a new chapter on the first year of chaos in the White House (as well as the surprising resurgence in economic prosperity), there are chapters on religion, race, guns, patriotism, pharmacological abuse and big government.Nonetheless, it is nice to have your impressions confirmed by someone who actually knows what he is talking about. One of my favourite parts was when an American described the UK as, “socialist and overly governed…” It just shows that there are misunderstandings on both sides and anything which can help two countries, which share so much, understand each other more, has to be a good thing.

He lets loose on Conservative Christianity, race, mass shootings, isolationism, the media and the role of government. Jon Sopel is a respected (and as anyone paying attention to the recent gender pay debates will know, very well paid) journalist who works for the BBC. And then of course we are inundated with American culture, from their food to their films, music, fashions – you name it. I understood US to be deist in outlook rather than theist, just about disdainfully tolerating Jews and Catholics, and as for Muslims. There are some fascinating comparisons between America, the UK and Europe and Sopel has weaved in entertaining and authentic anecdotes about his time living and working in Washington.On page 285, Sopel describes how pleased he was to be invited to play tennis with the British Ambassador to the US.