Book & TV recommendations

Books to help you understand the UK 

This whole booklist is available on Bookshop.org, where you can directly purchase all these books. Bookshop.org is a network of indie bookshops that delivers throughout the UK; it's a great way to get the convenience of shopping online while still supporting small bookshops.

Please note that the Bookshop.org links are affiliate links.

• The Life in the United Kingdom guide published by the Home Office. It’s the study guide for the official test you have to take before you can get your UK citizenship or permanent residency, but it’s also got some very helpful summaries about UK history, traditions and culture. 

• Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour – Kate Fox. This is the first gift I give to my friends who move to the UK!

• The Good Immigrant: 21 writers reflect on race in contemporary Britain – Nikesh Shukla (ed)

• Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain – Sathnam Sanghera 

• London: The Biography – Peter Ackroyd

• Notes from a Small Island and The Road to Little Dribbling – Bill Bryson. These books are hesitant recommendations - they're very funny in places and feature some spot-on observations about small British towns, but also a lot of the books just feel like the author being a jerk to people. And they haven't aged well. 

• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge

• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire – Akala 

• Scotland: A Concise History – Fitzroy Maclean

• The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot – Robert Macfarlane

• Black and British: A Forgotten History – David Olusoga 

• How to Be An Alien - George Mikes. A humour book about the English from 1973 which still absolutely slaps.

Essential British TV 

Watching these shows will help you understand most British banter. You also have to watch Love Island, sorry. 

• Killing Eve

• Doctor Who

• Derry Girls

• The Crown

• Monty Python’s Flying Circus

• Only Fools and Horses 

• Fleabag

• Fawlty Towers

• Poldark

• Call the Midwife

• Top Boy

• Years and Years

• The 7-Up series (63-Up is the most recent) 

• Absolutely Fabulous

• QI

• Taskmaster

• Gogglebox. This is literally a reality show where you watch other people watching TV, but it's a fascinating peek into the living rooms of Brits from across the social strata.

• GBBBO (the Great British Bake Off)

• Skins

• Broadchurch

• Peaky Blinders 

• The IT Crowd

• This is England. Originally a film, but there are three TV-series based on it.

• Downton Abbey

• This is Going to Hurt

And for movies, you can understand a large chunk of British culture just by watching Hot Fuzz, Paddington and Paddington 2. 

News sources 

The idea of left-wing/centrist/right-wing slants isn’t perfectly accurate for UK media, but it can be a helpful way to understand the biases different news sources are likely to take. By left-leaning I mean likely pro-Labour or Green Party, by right-leaning I mean likely pro-Tory, far right is something like Britain First, centrist is some mix. 

This is just my impression of these sources, by the way. Don’t come at me asking for data to back up these views. 

• The Guardian is the major leftie (and my general daily go-to). 

• The Times has a centrist lean. If you do get a subscription, their Best of Times daily newsletter is great.

• BBC is generally centrist but also extremely pro-monarchy.

• The Telegraph is a decent right-leaning source.

• The Week is a brilliant weekly summary of the news across multiple sources – a concise, balanced way to stay on top of things.

• Financial Times for business news.

• Al Jazeera is a great source for world news, as is The New York Times (although it’s pretty US-centric).

• There are dailies that are freely distributed, namely the Metro and the Evening Standard; as online sources they’re fine for day-to-day news, but you won’t get opinion and analysis from them. 

• Manchester Evening News if you want UK news that is less London-focused.

• The Independent has great reviews of tech and other products.

• TLDR News UK creates very helpful basic explainers on British politics and economics on YouTube.

The UK’s largest newspaper, the Daily Mail, prints outright lies and it’s not fit to wipe your bum with. I will not link to them.

E-mail newsletters 

• Jack’s Flight Club – a paid newsletter sharing cheap flight deals 

• MoneySavingExpert

London-specific 

• The Nudge (paid)

• TimeOut

• London in Bits

• London on the Inside

• Cheapskate London 

Books about the South African emigrant experience

• Always Another Country – Sisonke Msimang

• My Traitor’s Heart – Rian Malan

• October – Zoë Wicomb

• Ways of Staying – Kevin Bloom