The Xenophobe's Guide to the English

The Xenophobe's Guide

by Antony Miall, David Milsted

A guide to understanding the English that gets beyond the stiff upper lip and reveals their true spirit and character.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Humor, British Literature, Comedy, Cultural, History

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

He has written several books on Victorian songs and society. Now he works as a public relations consultant. Resides in Wandsworth.

Reviews

[Hadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading The Xenophobe's guide to the Germans, where I've worked and lived the past twenty odd years, decided to read the book about my nation. Again I found it amusing and contains many truths. Only after working and living in a foreign country can we really appreciate who we are and see our own culture objectively. It's like putting mirror in front of your face, we're all prisoners of our own culture.
I think we have to take all the books in this series with a pinch of salt and not too seriously, then they are very amusing. The books obviously deal with stereotypes, so there will always be truths for some and not others. Had me giggling about my own British foibels though and again made for very entertaining reading!

[Gabriele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived in England for some years I do agree with most of it. Very funny.

[Jenna Veirs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Xenophobe books, and have a collection of them in my kitchen. Why the kitchen? They are cute and look nice with the cookbooks. These books are very stereotypical, but fun.

[danana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really funny and enjoyable book !

"Deep down, the English regard Americans as English people who turned into something else as the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding, and who would be a lot happier if they just had the sense to turn back again. Then, they could start talking 'proper' English."

"English puritanism is best expressed in the belief that if something tastes good it must be bad for you; and if it's unpleasant, it must be good for you. There can be no other explanation for the existence of tapioca pudding."

"In England, brains are optional but a sense of humour is compulsory."

"A man walked into the doctor's surgery. The doctor said, 'I haven't seen you for a long time.' The man replied 'I know, I've been ill.' "

"For them this faecal nirvana is never reached. None of them can be persuaded to flirt with the ubiquitous suppository so beloved of the Europeans."

"Fortitude in the face of adversity is the thing. Queen Victoria's dying words were : 'I feel a little better...' "

"England is identified as the country of Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Dickens and Beatrix Potter"

"The Independent is read by the people who think they should run the country, The Guardian by the people who think they do run the country, and The Times by the people who actually run the country. The Financial Times is read by the people who own the country, The Daily Telegraph is read by people who ran the country 60 years ago and The Sun is read by people who don't care who runs the country so lang as the female on page 3 has great breasts."

[David Baird · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed very much the Xenophibe's Guide to The Danes, it was a very funny book and exactly explained the odd behaviour of my Danish wife and in-laws. With the English book I was looking for simillar laughs about myself, but found the book far less entertaining. That's not to say it wasn't correct in many ways, but it lacked the sarcasm of the Danish guide.

Still fun though and can be read in about an hour.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, full of observations and stereotypes of the English.
I'll admit, I agreed with quite a lot of it.

It's separated into sections discussing everything from what we think of ourselves, what others think of us, sports, culture, government and so on.

The Xenophobe's Guides are generally a good laugh :)

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crossposted at Booklikes.

Really funny. I got this when my friend was cleaning out his books. I will try to find more in this series.

Wonderful comments about English people like – “When Lloyd Webber meets Beatrix Potter, nobody will be able to get a seat”.

[Aline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended by TfG before arriving for my year of service. I must say I learned more than anticipated from this account of English life. Written by two Englishmen it covers the in and outs of English Culture and Society. I know do's and don'ts as well as views of other nations and foreigners as a whole. Good read with some good English humour!

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and funny, but I had expected more "English wit". :)
Especially since even the book put it that well: "In England, brains are optional but a sense of humour is compulsary."
Could have been even more humour for my taste. But it was a nice leisure-time book anyway! :)

[Virginie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I am going to read the whole series of these Xenophobe's Guides! Very interesting to decipher why people act or react as they do depending on which culture they come from!

[Jonathan]

Funny and True

[Marzena · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining set of stereotypes about the English. I can only question the translation and publishing errors which were disappointing.

[Okkyun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super! Hilarious! The writing style looks very British. I do love to read Xenophobe's Guide to the Korean, if the publisher has a plan to add one for the series.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helped a lot for my presentation on britishness!

[Meri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, a Xenophobe's Guide almost as good as the Guide to the Scots. Perhaps it is the dry, English humor, perhaps it is the dry, English people, but this book was certainly an entertaining read.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of interesting look at the British and how they view other groups.

[Ulrike Böhm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just plain hilarious!

[Michele Bariani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely boring

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny and informative in the same time. It walks you through all life matters and cultural aspects of the English people. It made me laugh several times which is very refreshing for a book.

[Um mar de fogueirinhas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laughed out loud picturing some of the descriptions and their real life dramas...

[Emi Yoshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series! Germans, Americans, and English are all spot, on in my opinion.

[Adéla Graf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skvělá, vtipná a praktická knížečka.

[Jeanette Devereux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very amusing and revealing of how we are. I much agree with me miall. Full of wry observations.

[Wilmington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes for a very entertaining read. Like others in the series, it has to rely on stereotypes, which are usually correct, though some may be more stereotypes that the English have about themselves and that are not really justified. For example, the authors make a big fuss about the English moderation in everything, the constant use of understatements, and people's reluctance to display excessive emotions (the stiff upper lip). Yet, when you compare with other Europeans, the English are the only ones who will regularly inflate compliments like 'your hair looks fantastic' or 'you look absolutely gorgeous today' when they just mean that it's good. Who else but the English would say things like 'I am positively ravenous' or 'it's perfectly all right' ? Is that moderation and reserve in expression?

[Doncho Angelov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, funny read

I don't think there's a better way to get to your beginning to know this great people than reading this guide.
In the typical for Xenophobe's guides tone, this book gives funny, carefully created throughout humor steam of data, related to the complexity of English.
We usually think we know English, because we watch movies in (American) English. If you also think that - read the book.

[Penelope Winkle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically my feelings on this book are as such: I enjoyed some comments (mainly the first sentence or so) of each section. I liked the sarcasm throughout but not enough or written well enough to fully read instead of skim most of. While I did enjoy the satire, some of the detail was lacking in interesting content or phrasing.

[chhaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Az író szépen csokorba gyűjtötte az angolokkal kapcsolatos előítéleteket, sokszor nagyban bólogattam magamban, hogy mennyire aktuális még ma is… Volt némi hiányérzetem, de alapvetően jó, szórakoztató és rövid kis olvasmány.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific little introduction to that strange and curious race of island-folk. As witty and spot-on as anything written by AA Gill or Bill Bryson on the subject. A hilarious, delightful, and very accurate read.

[Beatriz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It reminded me alot of the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them" Guide Book that was written in 2001. Just purely in style. It just describes everyday things and makes sime jokes. Its okay. Just not anything that special.