Great Britain: The Shock of Today

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The signs and symbols of prosperity are everywhere in Britain, crowding the past, complicating the present. Along rolling Roman roads and winding country lanes, past sleeping Norman churches and whitewashed farms, weekend traffic flows like an invading army. London's raw new office buildings jostle Georgian mansions; a Hilton hotel stares impertinently down onto Buckingham Palace. Bowling alleys and dance halls are packed each night of the week. On city rooftops, TV antennas stand as thick as the English archers at Agincourt.

In one decade, the number of cars on the roads...