If Only They Didn't Speak English

Jon Sopel may be the sanest man in America. He is certainly one of the most insightful … Immensely enjoyable * Bill Bryson *
Jon Sopel nails it … If Only They Didn’t Speak English is an entertaining and enlightening stock take of how we got here. * Emily Maitlis, Presenter, BBC Newsnight *
A wonderfully readable, perceptive account of what America looks like today through the eyes of a seasoned, informed but ultimately sympathetic observer. He addresses head-on such difficult questions as why it is America’s most God-fearing opponents of abortion who are also the most passionate supporters of the gun lobby and the death penalty. He reminds us that President Trump’s “America First” policy is nothing new – but that America made an invaluable contribution to Western Europe’s defence of its liberty in two world wars. And he describes graphically how US Presidential politics became Reality TV in 2016, leaving us, rightly, with a deep sense of unease about the way fake facts and bare-faced lies, often encouraged by enemies of democracy abroad, now pose a real threat to the survival of our values and institutions. Read it alongside the late, great Lynne Olson’s Citizens of London and J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. * Sir Peter Westmacott, Former British Ambassador to the United States *
Jon Sopel tries to explain the madness of Trump’s America with an elegant sense of stoic bewilderment. Brilliant * Emma Kennedy, Actress, Writer and Broadcaster *

Jon Sopel has been the BBC’s North America Editor since 2014. He has covered the 2016 and 2020 elections and Trump’s White House at first hand, reporting for the BBC across TV, radio and online. He also presents the highly successful Americast podcast with Emily Maitlis and Anthony Zurcher. As a member of the White House Press Corps, he has accompanied both President Obama and President Trump on Air Force One and interviewed President Obama at the White House. He has travelled extensively across the US and recently rode a Harley Davidson down the West Coast (that wasn’t for work though). He lives in Washington and London. He is the author of If Only They Didn’t Speak English- Notes from Trump’s America and A Year at the Circus- Inside Trump’s White House.

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