英国是个老牌的资本主义国家。十八世纪后半叶开始的全球第一次产业革命就起源于英国。整个十九世纪,英国无论在政治上、经济上、军事上和文化上来说都是无可争辩的世界霸主,其特征是向外扩张。但二十世纪带给英国的却是渐渐衰落的进程。其特征是向内收缩及吸纳外来因素。所以二十世纪末的英国是多元文化和国际化的新英国。本文给读者提供了大量有趣的例证。 Britain is a veteran capitalist country. The first industrial revolution in the world started in the second half of the eighteenth century originated in the United Kingdom. Throughout the nineteenth century, Britain was the undisputed world hegemony, politically, economically, militarily and culturally characterized by outward expansion. But the gradual decline of Britain brought by the twentieth century was a gradual decline. It is characterized by inward contraction and absorption of external factors. So the United Kingdom at the end of the twentieth century was a multicultural and international New England. This article gives readers a lot of interesting examples.