A recitation of what most readers will consider the obvious will be the mouse that emerges from this slightly mountainous writer, trying to shed the weight gained in ten liver-busting days in London, launching a book there and rekindling a few ventures, after an absence from that city of seven years. The British, like most foreigners, tend to like American presidents who don't play too strong a hand in foreign affairs , who practice collegiality , who praise Eurosocialism, and who apologize for the failings of former presidents.