本书坚持马克思主义的辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义原则，尽量客观、如实地反映英语国家的地理、历史、经济和政治概貌，尽量避免个人对这些国家的误读与偏见。全书共30章，每章都有英语课文，书后附有汉语参考译文，旨在帮助理解，提供翻译示例。文后有思考和练习题，便于学生课后反复练习，重点记忆，使其在学到文化知识的同时，提高中英文两种语言的阅读、互译和表达水平。

本书尽量做到精选、新颖、简明、条理、易懂，以减轻学习者的压力。为了提高学习兴趣，还附有地图、插图，以提高知识的直观性和趣味性。附录中有各章练习客观题的答案，以便查阅与核对。

The United Kingdom / 1

Chapter 1 The Land / 2

Chapter 2 The People / 10

Chapter 3 Economy / 20

Chapter 4 Parliament and Government / 29

Chapter 5 Party Politics and Judiciary / 39

Chapter 6 Early Man and the Feudal Society / 48

Chapter 7 Decline of Feudalism and the Bourgeois Revolution / 57

Chapter 8 The Industrial Revolution and the Chartist Movement / 69

Chapter 9 The British Empire and British Imperialism / 77

The United States / 87

Chapter 10 The Land / 88

Chapter 11 The People / 101

Chapter 12 American Economy / 110

Chapter 13 Government System / 121

Chapter 14 State Government and Party Politics / 130

Chapter 15 The Early Colonization / 139

Chapter 16 American Revolution / 148

Chapter 17 American Civil War / 159

Chapter 18 US Imperialism / 168

Canada / 181

Chapter 19 Geography / 182

Chapter 20 The Formation of the Nation / 191

Chapter 21 The Canadian Economy / 198

Chapter 22 Government and Politics / 208

Australia / 219

Chapter 23 Geography and People / 220

Chapter 24 History / 231

Chapter 25 Economy / 247

Chapter 26 Government and Politics / 258

New Zealand / 269

Chapter 27 Geography / 270

Chapter 28 Economy / 281

Chapter 29 History / 290

Chapter 30 Political System / 300

KEY TO EXERCISES / 307

REFERENCES / 425