Bestselling author Oliver Bullough reveals the scandalous reality of Britain´s new position in the world.
The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain´s twentieth-century nadir, the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat. In the immortal words of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, ´Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role.´ But the funny thing was, Britain had already found a role. It even had the costume. The leaders of the world just hadn´t noticed it yet.
Butler to the World reveals how the UK took up its position at the elbow of the worst people on Earth: the oligarchs, kleptocrats and gangsters. We pride ourselves on values of fair play and the rule of law, but few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts. We are now a nation of Jeeveses, snobbish enablers for rich halfwits of considerably less charm than Bertie Wooster. It doesn´t have to be that way.