Martin Upham, the author of Britain Explained, spent many years teaching the ‘Britain Today’ course to Americans ‘studying abroad’ in London, where he was the director of AHA International (now GEO). This book is based on that experience. Martin shows how the United Kingdom is and always has been a complex country of varied and at times clashing identities, expressed in every aspect of its history and contemporary life. The result is a fascinating expedition that in one highly-readable volume will give students and other visitors from abroad a rich and rounded understanding of Britain today. Starting with an explanation of the constitutional and parliamentary system, the book then moves on to a description of the four nations that make up the UK, looking at what unites them and what divides them. London gets a chapter on its own. A chapter dedicated to Brexit explores the fault lines exposed by the EU referendum. Further chapters follow on foreign affairs, the economy, social identities, religion, education, culture, sport, the media, the health service, the law, science, and the environment. Each chapter is packed with useful facts and informative well-balanced commentary.