Encyclopaedia of Contemporary British Culture

The Scottish Parliament recently issued a consultative document on culture which was criticised, by this reviewer among others, as being too consciously “highbrow” and for taking too narrow a focus on culture; that is not a criticism which could be made of this work. Its range is truly catholic, from high (the Royal Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company and their ilk) to low (Rugby League, betting shops, for example) with many surprises in between (at random, corruption in the City, Sinn Fein, and many more). Or, as the editors put it in their introduction: “British culture, like the proverbial elephant seized...