Fucker has a ready wit and a natural, fluent style of writing. You do not need to own a stately home and a Capability Brown park to rally round his cry. His hatred of government bureaucracy is something we all feel from time to time. His fear of wives who spend too much is also a common concern, though most of us never dare to mention it. ‘There are qualities you should look for in a wife and traits you should avoid,’ he advises the besieged modern stately home owner.

One of the prime characteristics to be wary of is if the girl comes from bad breeding stock and could bring bad blood into your family, resulting in a string of thick, idle spendthrifts, wastrels or gamblers, or maybe a mixture of the lot, or even — perish the thought — a queer, which will effectively mean the end of your line.
No doubt there are many who will not be encouraged by this sort of sentiment. Perhaps it is a little brash, but Fucker’s bold, honest and opinionated optimism makes for a very refreshing read. He is both knowledgeable and persuasive in matters of history, politics and business; he is a confident rabble-rouser and, I suspect, a natural leader of men — just what the English rural classes need right now to stoke their anger and lead them through the bureaucratic pall of Tony’s modern Britain. Perhaps one day he might consider running for office with Bearing Up as his manifesto. I sincerely hope he does, for with Sir Baldwin as our progenitor and Fucker as our leader things may yet turn out all right.

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