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1.How to be a Brit: A George Mikes Minibus by: George Mikes April 24, 1986
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £8.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £6.99 You Save: £2.00 (22%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £0.01
I found this commentary on Brits to be out-dated, inaccurate and quite insulting. Furthermore, it was very ego-centrically Hungarian, as I guess the author is!

2.The English: A Portrait of a People by: Jeremy Paxman September 06, 2007
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £9.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £6.49 You Save: £3.50 (35%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £3.50
The first 70-100 pages form the start of an interesting and entertaining essay- however the book does not close on many of the promises made in the opening chapters. For example, many references are made to the impossibility of defining a singular English identity- certainly true enough. However, the book gradually builds into a sustained focus on 'the breed' (read traditional stereotype of a Public School educated Englishman from the Home Counties). There are ample opportunities to reject further discussion of this tired stereotype but few are given more than lip service. This book may be interesting for some and opens with some interesting observations, however it fails to materialise as a coherent comment on the diverse English people.

3.Brit-think, Ameri-think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide by: Jane Walmsley June 26, 2003
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: £6.99 Prices subject to change. Used Price: £2.00
I've been interested in Britain for a very long time. I've read lots of books on the culture, but this is the best one by far. Every Brit who has an American friend or vice versa, should read this book to help you understand why the other seems like an alien at times.

4.The Xenophobe's Guide to the English (Xenophobe's Guides) by: Antony Miall, David Milsted April 18, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £4.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £4.24 You Save: £0.75 (15%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £1.16
Very funny, and surprisingly accurate portrayal of the English and their behaviour. Covering aspects such as our love of the 'nice cup of tea' through to our insistence on always being 'sorry'. Well worth a read.

5.The How to be British Collection by: Martyn Ford, Peter Legon April 22, 2003
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £6.49 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £4.76 You Save: £1.73 (27%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £0.50
This is really about both collections (1 and 2) of How to be British you'll probably find this review duplicated under the other title. If there's one book I could give to foreigners that portrays Britain it would be these two, and as someone who's interested in, and has struggled with, the problem of "what does it mean to be British?" I think these two books come closest to an answer. Abroad, there would be no humourous books like these. The space they occupy (more and more each year at Christmas) would be taken up with philosophy but I've begun to think that this is the best way to analyse what the British are about. I love the pointed observation of Peter Legon's writing and the dry humour and ... Read More:

6.I Never Knew That About England by: Christopher Winn April 07, 2005
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £9.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £6.89 You Save: £3.10 (31%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £1.49
Along with G Meehan I find the errors irritating having found two more in the first 24 pages. One is often repeated and may be considered trivial by many - the line from Gray's Elegy (page 18) The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea, True, several websites print this version but they may well be just copies of other sites. Reputable poetry sites and Oxford University's Gray archive print the version that also appears in the Oxford Book of English Verse: The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, Yes, it does seem odd, but if that's what Gray wrote, that's what should appear. The editors at the publishers, if not the author, should be capable of spotting this. A far less trivial error is ... Read More:

7.The English Companion: An Idiosyncratic A-Z of England and Englishness by: Godfrey Smith January 01, 1996
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £12.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £9.09 You Save: £3.90 (30%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £3.80
This book was is one person's musings on "Englishness", presented in a strange and abstract format.

8.The How to be British Collection Two by: Martyn Alexander Ford, Peter Christopher Legon 2005-09
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: £5.95 Prices subject to change. Used Price: £1.72
This is really about both collections (1 and 2) of How to be British you'll probably find this review duplicated under the other title. If there's one book I could give to foreigners that portrays Britain it would be these two, and as someone who's interested in, and has struggled with, the problem of "what does it mean to be British?" I think these two books come closest to an answer. Abroad, there would be no humourous books like these. The space they occupy (more and more each year at Christmas) would be taken up with philosophy but I've begun to think that this is the best way to analyse what the British are about. I love the pointed observation of Peter Legon's writing and the dry humour and I love the detail ... Read More:

9.How to Be an Alien: A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils by: George Mikes July 26, 1973
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £7.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £5.99 You Save: £2.00 (25%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £0.01
Well, for a book written in 1947 this is a great insight into what englishness is and how ridiculous it is. Written by a hungarian who came to england it is a funny way of looking at how a hungarian was received in that time and whilst being amusing shows some underlying truths about the english buy it

10.An Utterly Impartial History of Britain: (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge) by: John O'Farrell May 05, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: £7.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: £3.86 You Save: £4.13 (52%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: £1.84
I bought this book assuming that it would be a fairly humorous and fluffy take on history. I almost immediately put it down due to the stupid, obvious, dud jokes that litter every page. I had written it off entirely, but dipped back into it about a week later, and was surprised to find myself really enjoying the historical aspects of the book. There is an unwritten format to the whole thing, in which the author presents received history, then gives his own take on the situation, often with some recent evidence, then tosses in some stale gags. If you can get past the puns the history is quite interesting, but it was the author's opinions and commentaries that kept me going. Time and again new perspectives caught me unawares. I'm certainly no history buff, ... Read More:

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