The Politics and Culture of Decline. 'Not With a Bang But a Whimper' is a beautifully-written and thought-provoking collection of pieces on subjects as diverse as the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand controversy, violent crime on Britain's streets, the effects of the welfare state, modern architecture and the respective merits of Shakespeare and Dr Johnson. Theodore Dalrymple uses examples from his long career as a prison doctor, and his travels to every corner of the globe, to illustrate his central view - that Britain is in the throes of a catastrophic cultural, social and political decline.