Prussian lesson

In his book on Germany, Neil MacGregor suggests that one of the keys to the success of the modern German state was the ending of Prussian hegemony in the old.

Is England to the present British state what Prussia was to the old German state?

As a country, Britain is a contrivance of largely English device and the source not only of Irish disaffection with Britishness but also of Scottish and Welsh. A lesser England that devoted its energy and attention to matters of only English concern could well produce a state with which all the British could be more than content.

Richard Ede

Liverpool