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I'm from northern Virginia, but I grew up next to the West Virginia border, so it was hills and farmland. We had that sense of adventure you get from growing up around old farmhouses and lazy, rolling hills, you know?

When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia.

I grew up in the countryside in the middle of nowhere in England and got out as soon as I could!

My family came in 1635 from England and settled in Williamsburg. Shortly after, they split up; half went to New England and half stayed in Virginia. I'm a Virginian Ballard.

It's a place I'll always remember, and I have nothing bad to say about New England. I love that place.

As I absorbed life here and understood it better, I just completely fell in love with England.

Contemporary Britain seems an endlessly fascinating place to me - but if I knew a little bit more about other places, and other times, maybe it wouldn't.

The fact is that I loved being in England.

Deep down, I'm just a West Virginia hillbilly.

Let us never forget this: since the day of the air, the old frontiers are gone. When you think of the defense of England you no longer think of the chalk cliffs of Dover; you think of the Rhine. That is where our frontier lies.