Britain | Bagehot

The British establishment is the world’s most open—for a price

Rich foreigners get a warm welcome, whatever the source of their money

SOMETIMES FICTIONAL characters are so vivid that they cannot be confined to the page. Augustus Melmotte began life as a villain in Anthony Trollope’s 1875 masterpiece “The Way We Live Now”. Seventy years later he escaped into the real world in the form of Captain Robert Maxwell, a Czech war hero whose extraordinary rise and fall is the subject of a new book (see article).

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The price of acceptance”

How well will vaccines work?

From the February 13th 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Britain

Blue lights flashing on an ambulance

Many Britons are waiting 12 hours at A&E

The crisis in emergency care has deep roots

Members of the public look at a floral tribute in Southport in memory of three children killed at a dance studio in the city in July 2024

Is British justice too secretive?

Controversy rages over what happened both before and after a horrendous mass stabbing



The rise of the Net-Zero Dad

Middle-aged men care less about the problem. But they love the solution 

Backing Heathrow expansion suggests Labour is serious about boosting growth

It is the surest sign yet that the government is up for the fight