John Derbyshire recently mused that A.D. 1963 was the apex of the good life in Western civilization. His nostalgia of good times gone by reminded him of a charming short film made for the London Transport: All That Mighty Heart (click on the link to watch it on the film page of the London Transport Museum). It is a day in the life of London from A.D. 1962, with its depictions of city streets, jolly workers, feminine women, and a London that was still English.
Derbyshire laments the loss of old England. It is strange that every generation of Englishmen mourns the loss of old England. If there is a lot of ruin in a nation, there must be a lot of loss in one, too.