Annette Dittert: Dear Britain

Annette Dittert Reads: *Dear Britain – In Search of the Soul of Great Britain*

When Annette Dittert stood in front of Downing Street at midnight on January 31, 2020, to report live on ARD’s *Tagesthemen* that Brexit had finally taken effect that night, tears suddenly welled up in her eyes just before the live broadcast. London had long since become her home. Now the break with the EU was irreversible. For her and many Britons who had hoped for a different outcome right up until the very end, it was a somber day.

Six years later—and ten years after the Brexit referendum—Annette Dittert wonders what has become of the country. She takes us on a journey across the island: We visit the Royal Albert Hall and the House of Lords, swim in the sea off the island’s east coast with the women’s group “Blue Tits,” and chat with Scots, priests, and earls. And we’re guests of the author on her narrowboat Emilia, a small, colorful steel boat on Regent’s Canal, right in the heart of London. The result is a multifaceted portrait of the quirky, charming British people, whose precarious economic and social situation—not only as a result of Brexit—is palpable in everyday life, yet who always maintain their composure.

“This island was love at first sight for me.”
ANNETTE DITTERT

“Every time Annette Dittert appeared on ARD, I thought with delight: Let the show begin. And that’s exactly how this book reads. Annette Dittert combines political analysis with the personal experience gained from years as a correspondent. The result is a multifaceted, often surprising look at a country that seems familiar to many Germans but only truly reveals itself when you gain insights into its rituals, contradictions, and peculiarities. And Annette Dittert delivers plenty of those. Magnificent!”
NATALIE AMIRI

“This fantastic book is as entertaining as it is insightful. A deep look into the British soul, written almost like a novel. I couldn’t put it down!”
ULRICH WICKERT

ANNETTE DITTERT served as a foreign correspondent for ARD from 1999 until the end of 2025. She is a passionate journalist and filmmaker. She became known to a wide audience as a studio manager and correspondent in Warsaw, later in New York, and, starting in 2008, in London. She has received two Grimme Awards and the Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs Prize for her films. In 2019, she was named Political Journalist of the Year for her coverage of Brexit. She lives in London on her houseboat, Emilia.