A review by anneklein
Down With The Royals (Provocations Series) by Joan Smith

3.0

I wanted to read this because I've always been anti-monarchy, and when I moved to the UK it shocked me to see how staunchly everyday people, even working-class, non-white and migrant people, defended the UK's royal family. This book was good at succinctly listing and debunking the main arguments people bring up to justify the monarchy, most infamously "they bring tourism to the country". However, for such a short book, I would have liked to see less exposition of the ways republicans are treated in the UK and more analysis of the royal family's constant bypassing of all the rules that apply to the rest of us. At some points it felt like the author wanted to write a memoir of her experiences as a visible republican which, while valid, was not what I picked up the book for. But I am glad I read it and will be looking into related books to expand on its ideas.