Surrounded by Idiots – The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand those Who Cannot Be Understood) – Thomas Erikson

ISBN: 978-0-241-44529-7

Verdict: 👍👍

I bought this book primarily because the author is a British Asian (like myself) and I like to support where I can.

The book did not disappoint, it was well written, had several interesting facts which I was not aware of resulting in  added value to my knowledge base. 

My only criticism is that a few more pages wouldn’t have gone a miss , could have read some more. However, at 216 pages I consider it as good value for the  golden nuggets found within the book.

 I would probably disagree with the author on some of his stereotypical points e.g. 

• “Sikhs did relatively well out of empire”  (p18) – not all, Jallianwala Bagh ? 
• “Private numberplate on BMWs “ (p23), "Front gardens paved over to make space for Audis” p 23 - hmmm maybe in Wolverhampton ! 
• “you can’t apply modern ethics to the past”  (p40) yet we do with Nazi Germany? 
• “the kindest thing I can bring myself to say about Brighton on this bitterly cold February Afternoon” – Author should visit in the Summer – its brilliant with a brilliant vibe. 

I liked the reinforcement from the FT that;

• “Slavery was integral to the UK economy for more than a century , with proceeds enjoyed at home and misery parked offshore” FT   p129 

Other Bits I found interesting ;

• Jan 2016 a YouGov poll found 44 percent of Britons thought their countries ‘history of colonisation’ was something to be proud of, and 43 percent deemed the British Empire to be a ‘good thing’ – p186 –  I’m sure there are some in Germany that secretly feel that Hitler also achieved quite a bit?
• P190 represents some excellent material and too much for me to re-type – but in essence, it’s a well-known fact, that historically the British have neglected to recognise the contribution from the colonies in both world wars.
• I won’t mention the bit about the ignorant individual who complained about the inclusion of a British Sikh solder in the First world war movie – he deserves no further promotion of his ignorance. 

The author tries, in a roundabout way, to say that Empire, both good and bad , should be on the national curriculum and a more accurate representation / context be presented in our museums and statues regarding slavery, theft etc . As someone who visited Auschwitz and learned so much , not about hating Germans,  but about the awful nature of humans when they are misinformed and or are greedy etc.

It is important to note that the author is not an Historian or claims to be, he is a Journalist, which is clear when reading the book - So I still miss an 'Empire timeline" mapped to some key negative events - but then thats my preference.

All in all a nice short read – I enjoyed it.