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Anglomanía: Una fascinación europea
Un libro absorbente, infinitamente ingenioso y erudito, acertada combinación de historia, biografía y agudo periodismo, sobre la fascinación o repulsión que Inglaterra ha despertado en las gentes del resto de Europa. Desde Voltaire, que vio en ese país una tierra de libertad, razón, tolerancia y modernidad; pasando por Goethe, que idolatraba a Shakespeare; Marx, que vivió en Inglaterra, aunque consideraba a los ingleses demasiado estúpidos para iniciar la revolución& El autor bucea con humor e inteligencia en la vida de estos y otros anglófilos y anglófobos notables y narra la evolución de la relación entre la isla y el continente.
396 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Ian Buruma
89 books252 followersIan Buruma is a British-Dutch writer and academic, much of whose work focuses on the culture of Asia, particularly that of 20th-century Japan, where he lived and worked for many years.
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March 19, 2024
"Why can't the laws that guarantee British liberties be adopted elsewhere? They would say you might as well ask why coconuts which bear fruit in India do not ripen in Rome. Well, it took time for those coconuts to ripen in England too. There is no reason they shouldn't do as well everywhere." - Voltaire as quoted by Ian Buruma
************
Ian Buruma, raised in the Netherlands by Dutch and English parents, wrote this book in 1998. He begins by recalling the liberation of the Hague by US, Canadian and British troops in 1945. Although born in 1951, WWII had a profound influence on him, as with everyone. It swept away old aristocracies in Europe that persisted in Britain. Many had faced towards France for cultural and class distinctions but the UK became a beacon for certain postwar continental snobs. The English gentleman, middle class but bred with upper class manners, appealed to an upwardly mobile liberal bourgeoisie.
In the 1960's a new liberation came with the Beatles, Stones and Who that resembled the ecstasy of the earlier one. They represented a working class challenge to the status quo. As adapters of American rock'n'roll, evolved from African blues, British bands were a curious throwback to an ancient regime in buying of manor estates. The new rock royalty was a form of rebellion itself. A demise of class consciousness mourned by the wealthy still lives on with some. "What one admired about this country was the aristocracy and the working class. It's no longer different from anywhere else in Europe".
In the 1990's there was domestic dialogue about what was truly British, from cricket and fox hunts to the future of monarchy. With UK defensiveness over ties to the EU, the basis of anglophilia (historical admiration of free press, free speech and freely elected government) lost credibility on the continent. Buruma chooses classic examples of anglophiles and anglophobes to explore the love-hate relationship in the two centuries before the war. His argument is that royalty survived because a majority of British believed they were able to enter the echelons of the respected and well to do.
In 1756 Voltaire raised the question: "Why can't the world be more like England?". He had come to England after his imprisonment in the Bastille for satirizing religion and imagined a model for freedom and tolerance. The Edict of Nantes granted religious rights in France but was revoked in 1685 and non-Catholic groups fled to England. The 1688 revolution in Britain began a constitutional monarchy but Voltaire found a francophile aristocracy in its wake. His views presaged Thatcher's UK, where England was "an island of liberty facing a dark and despotic continent".
Anglophilia thrived in seaports from Hamburg and Antwerp to Rotterdam where merchants aspired to put on airs and valued free trade. Voltaire was no less impressed with liberal effects of wealth on repressive religion. Shakespeare was worshipped in Germany since the mid 18th century, counting Goethe as his greatest fan. After Shakespeare had inspired sturm und drang, Wagner went on about the geist of German language. Shakespeare was of a cosmopolitan Renaissance, central Europe still stuck in religious Reformation. Until then Germans mimicked French theater and literature.
Following the French Revolution British pride in Saxon roots vs Norman grew, co-opted by Germans who stressed racial kinship rather than constitutional liberties. Herder was a philosopher of German romanticism vs French rationalism who believed Britons were Germanic. 'Fingal', a Scottish epic poem, was loved by Goethe. Buruma visits Staffa, an island west of Scotland, to find Fingal's Cave. It resembles a Gothic cathedral, symbol of German identity despite French origins. Vikings named it after their houses, proof of Nordic heritage. Samuel Johnson went and doubted the saga's authenticity.
Buruma follows a number of other figures in his search for anglomania. In the early 19th century English gardens were the rage in continental Europe. A German noble travels to England to find a wealthy wife and research picturesque parks whose views hid factories that had funded them. Mid 19th century refugees from Europe's revolutions gathered in London. Garibaldi and Mazzini played walk on roles with English crowds cheering. Chopin and Heine couldn't stand British commercialism or conventions, nor could Karl Marx. Byron was better received on the continent than at home.
The boarding school crucible of English gentlemen, where Napoleon was defeated on Eton's playing fields, inspired Coubertin to introduce sports to French schools and found the Olympics. Buruma's great grandparents, German Jews, went to England in 1882 assimilated and were prosperous. In Germany Wagner told Jews to renounce faith and worship at Bayreuth as Mahler did. In London were the Rothchild's and the Montefiore's, liberal values and aristocracy. It attracted wealthy families of fin de siecle Vienna who fled from anti-semitism, and Theodor Herzl in search of a Jewish state.
Disraeli proposed Jews were natural conservatives and the inventors of Anglo-Saxon faith, prompting anglophobes in France to see a conspiracy of British bankers intent on take over of the continent. Zionism was British style colonialism for anglophile Herzl. Following WWI Kaiser Wilhelm II took refuge in Holland railing against the backstabbing Jewish Bolsheviks and the Franco-Anglo alliance. Wilhelm became an anglophobe, in spite of his grandmother Queen Victoria and being half English himself. She and Prince Albert tried to instill British ideals unsuitable for a Prussian prince.
Buruma is a scholar of history and literature, and a critic of popular culture. He was professor of journalism at Bard and onetime editor of the New York Review of Books. All of this makes for scintillating reading, here and in twenty other books. Many are about east Asia where he had lived and taught. It's great how cultural history connects literature, religion and politics if written by an author with a broad understanding. In 'Anglomania' Buruma covers both famous and obscure writers, relying on letters, diaries and books to paint his portrait of the upper class during the period.
************
Ian Buruma, raised in the Netherlands by Dutch and English parents, wrote this book in 1998. He begins by recalling the liberation of the Hague by US, Canadian and British troops in 1945. Although born in 1951, WWII had a profound influence on him, as with everyone. It swept away old aristocracies in Europe that persisted in Britain. Many had faced towards France for cultural and class distinctions but the UK became a beacon for certain postwar continental snobs. The English gentleman, middle class but bred with upper class manners, appealed to an upwardly mobile liberal bourgeoisie.
In the 1960's a new liberation came with the Beatles, Stones and Who that resembled the ecstasy of the earlier one. They represented a working class challenge to the status quo. As adapters of American rock'n'roll, evolved from African blues, British bands were a curious throwback to an ancient regime in buying of manor estates. The new rock royalty was a form of rebellion itself. A demise of class consciousness mourned by the wealthy still lives on with some. "What one admired about this country was the aristocracy and the working class. It's no longer different from anywhere else in Europe".
In the 1990's there was domestic dialogue about what was truly British, from cricket and fox hunts to the future of monarchy. With UK defensiveness over ties to the EU, the basis of anglophilia (historical admiration of free press, free speech and freely elected government) lost credibility on the continent. Buruma chooses classic examples of anglophiles and anglophobes to explore the love-hate relationship in the two centuries before the war. His argument is that royalty survived because a majority of British believed they were able to enter the echelons of the respected and well to do.
In 1756 Voltaire raised the question: "Why can't the world be more like England?". He had come to England after his imprisonment in the Bastille for satirizing religion and imagined a model for freedom and tolerance. The Edict of Nantes granted religious rights in France but was revoked in 1685 and non-Catholic groups fled to England. The 1688 revolution in Britain began a constitutional monarchy but Voltaire found a francophile aristocracy in its wake. His views presaged Thatcher's UK, where England was "an island of liberty facing a dark and despotic continent".
Anglophilia thrived in seaports from Hamburg and Antwerp to Rotterdam where merchants aspired to put on airs and valued free trade. Voltaire was no less impressed with liberal effects of wealth on repressive religion. Shakespeare was worshipped in Germany since the mid 18th century, counting Goethe as his greatest fan. After Shakespeare had inspired sturm und drang, Wagner went on about the geist of German language. Shakespeare was of a cosmopolitan Renaissance, central Europe still stuck in religious Reformation. Until then Germans mimicked French theater and literature.
Following the French Revolution British pride in Saxon roots vs Norman grew, co-opted by Germans who stressed racial kinship rather than constitutional liberties. Herder was a philosopher of German romanticism vs French rationalism who believed Britons were Germanic. 'Fingal', a Scottish epic poem, was loved by Goethe. Buruma visits Staffa, an island west of Scotland, to find Fingal's Cave. It resembles a Gothic cathedral, symbol of German identity despite French origins. Vikings named it after their houses, proof of Nordic heritage. Samuel Johnson went and doubted the saga's authenticity.
Buruma follows a number of other figures in his search for anglomania. In the early 19th century English gardens were the rage in continental Europe. A German noble travels to England to find a wealthy wife and research picturesque parks whose views hid factories that had funded them. Mid 19th century refugees from Europe's revolutions gathered in London. Garibaldi and Mazzini played walk on roles with English crowds cheering. Chopin and Heine couldn't stand British commercialism or conventions, nor could Karl Marx. Byron was better received on the continent than at home.
The boarding school crucible of English gentlemen, where Napoleon was defeated on Eton's playing fields, inspired Coubertin to introduce sports to French schools and found the Olympics. Buruma's great grandparents, German Jews, went to England in 1882 assimilated and were prosperous. In Germany Wagner told Jews to renounce faith and worship at Bayreuth as Mahler did. In London were the Rothchild's and the Montefiore's, liberal values and aristocracy. It attracted wealthy families of fin de siecle Vienna who fled from anti-semitism, and Theodor Herzl in search of a Jewish state.
Disraeli proposed Jews were natural conservatives and the inventors of Anglo-Saxon faith, prompting anglophobes in France to see a conspiracy of British bankers intent on take over of the continent. Zionism was British style colonialism for anglophile Herzl. Following WWI Kaiser Wilhelm II took refuge in Holland railing against the backstabbing Jewish Bolsheviks and the Franco-Anglo alliance. Wilhelm became an anglophobe, in spite of his grandmother Queen Victoria and being half English himself. She and Prince Albert tried to instill British ideals unsuitable for a Prussian prince.
Buruma is a scholar of history and literature, and a critic of popular culture. He was professor of journalism at Bard and onetime editor of the New York Review of Books. All of this makes for scintillating reading, here and in twenty other books. Many are about east Asia where he had lived and taught. It's great how cultural history connects literature, religion and politics if written by an author with a broad understanding. In 'Anglomania' Buruma covers both famous and obscure writers, relying on letters, diaries and books to paint his portrait of the upper class during the period.
December 12, 2021
Ian Buruma has been one of my favorite contemporary public intellectuals with the likes of Christopher Hitchens, and Milan Kundera. He has a vast array of knowledge from Asia (he has lived in Japan and China and speaks both languages fluently), he is of Dutch and English ancestry (essentially he has two native tongues), and has an interest in contemporary politics and religion. He has written books on Japan, China, other Asian countries, Germany and Japan’s post war guilt, Muslims in Holland, and the rift between eastern religions and the west. So it should come as no surprise that he has written a book about Europe’s fascination with English culture, Anglomania: A European Love Affair (1998), which is a combination memoir/history book.
The first chapter, “Churchill’s Cigar” is about Buruma’s personal history as an Anglomaniac due to his lineage as the son of an English mother of German heritage and a Dutch father. He also goes onto explain his Dutch associations with Anglomania. The next section is “Voltaire’s Coconuts” which is a discussion of England’s image to Voltaire as a land of freedom and tolerance. For many in Europe it was a model of liberal and religious tolerance, which Voltaire likens to coconuts that will thrive if planted anywhere after a period. “Goethe’s Shakespeare” in Chapter three looks at the great German writer’s appreciation and influence from Shakespeare. Chapter five, “Fingal’s Cave,” Buruma explores the intellectual differences between Great Britain (Scotland in particular-David Hume, Adam Smith, James Boswell, and James Macpherson). The Scottophila tradition is that of romance of pre-civilization of an apolitical community of natural men or noble savages. This is in contrast to the Anglo tradition of idealization of political institutions, social arrangements of a civilized society. Then there’s the whole romantic tradition of Sir Walter Scott to consider as well. Buruma then looks at German Prince Hermann von Pucker in chapter five, “The Parkomane,” which was one of his monikers along with Musakau, Prince Pickle (in England), and Lord Smorttork (in Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers). This name is related to his reputation as “the Goethe of landscape gardening”-which corresponds to gardening as a symbol of England and a metaphor for their culture. It seems that this figure and several other throughout the book have mixed feelings about England and prefer their idealized versions of the country to the true state. This is a motif that is discussed throughout the book. Chapter six, “The Graveyard of Revolution,” discusses all the dissents like Marx and the all the others from the failed revolutions of 1848 who found freedom to voice their opinions and plot their next step in England. This includes dissidents form Hungary, France, Russia, and Italy. In “School Days,” chapter seven, Buruma and many Anglophile’s fascination with English public schools are discussed. In particular a series of books called Tom Brown’s School Days. “A Sporting Man” (Chapter eight) deals in particular the idea put forth by Wellington that Napoleon was defeatd on Eaton’s playing fields is discussed. British games have always been an important aspect of the culture. In chapter eight, the importing of British games (cricket, rugby, and the establishment of the modern Olympics) to Europe is discussed. Buruma’s mixed German/English background is the focus of chapter nine, “Wagnerians.” This chapter also begins a discussion about Jews in England since it seems most Germans who emigrated there were of Jewish ancestry. Thus, Chapter 10 follows with “Jewish Cricket” and the influence of English Jews like Theodor Herzl and Benjamin Disraeli. The concept of Zionism in particular came from these quarters and is one of the major the subjects of this section. “The Anglomane Who Hated England” (Chapter 11) continues to discuss Germanic concepts of Englishness via the impressions of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who obviously had mixed feelings about the English. The actor Leslie Howard is the subject of Chapter 12, who is known to embody the idea of a true Englishman in spite of the fact that he was a Hungarian. Architecture is the subject of Chapter 13, “Dr. Pevsner.” He was another European obsessed with English architecture and the study and recording of the many examples. Buruma follows this chapter with a discussion of his time as a writer for The Spectator in Chapter 14, “ The Man In The Tweed Coat.” It shows his ambivalence about being an Anglomane. The last chapter, Chapter 15, “The Las Englishman” is a sort of postscript or coda about the separation of England from mainland Europe and what the future might hold.
As usual Burma has written a book that is well researched and a compelling read for anyone interested in England and its relationship with Europe. I like how Bururma drew on his own experiences growing up in Holland with an English mother as well as making observations from his life living in places like Japan, Hong Kong, and England. It is probably only of interest to those who have an interest in British culture and the history of ideas.
The first chapter, “Churchill’s Cigar” is about Buruma’s personal history as an Anglomaniac due to his lineage as the son of an English mother of German heritage and a Dutch father. He also goes onto explain his Dutch associations with Anglomania. The next section is “Voltaire’s Coconuts” which is a discussion of England’s image to Voltaire as a land of freedom and tolerance. For many in Europe it was a model of liberal and religious tolerance, which Voltaire likens to coconuts that will thrive if planted anywhere after a period. “Goethe’s Shakespeare” in Chapter three looks at the great German writer’s appreciation and influence from Shakespeare. Chapter five, “Fingal’s Cave,” Buruma explores the intellectual differences between Great Britain (Scotland in particular-David Hume, Adam Smith, James Boswell, and James Macpherson). The Scottophila tradition is that of romance of pre-civilization of an apolitical community of natural men or noble savages. This is in contrast to the Anglo tradition of idealization of political institutions, social arrangements of a civilized society. Then there’s the whole romantic tradition of Sir Walter Scott to consider as well. Buruma then looks at German Prince Hermann von Pucker in chapter five, “The Parkomane,” which was one of his monikers along with Musakau, Prince Pickle (in England), and Lord Smorttork (in Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers). This name is related to his reputation as “the Goethe of landscape gardening”-which corresponds to gardening as a symbol of England and a metaphor for their culture. It seems that this figure and several other throughout the book have mixed feelings about England and prefer their idealized versions of the country to the true state. This is a motif that is discussed throughout the book. Chapter six, “The Graveyard of Revolution,” discusses all the dissents like Marx and the all the others from the failed revolutions of 1848 who found freedom to voice their opinions and plot their next step in England. This includes dissidents form Hungary, France, Russia, and Italy. In “School Days,” chapter seven, Buruma and many Anglophile’s fascination with English public schools are discussed. In particular a series of books called Tom Brown’s School Days. “A Sporting Man” (Chapter eight) deals in particular the idea put forth by Wellington that Napoleon was defeatd on Eaton’s playing fields is discussed. British games have always been an important aspect of the culture. In chapter eight, the importing of British games (cricket, rugby, and the establishment of the modern Olympics) to Europe is discussed. Buruma’s mixed German/English background is the focus of chapter nine, “Wagnerians.” This chapter also begins a discussion about Jews in England since it seems most Germans who emigrated there were of Jewish ancestry. Thus, Chapter 10 follows with “Jewish Cricket” and the influence of English Jews like Theodor Herzl and Benjamin Disraeli. The concept of Zionism in particular came from these quarters and is one of the major the subjects of this section. “The Anglomane Who Hated England” (Chapter 11) continues to discuss Germanic concepts of Englishness via the impressions of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who obviously had mixed feelings about the English. The actor Leslie Howard is the subject of Chapter 12, who is known to embody the idea of a true Englishman in spite of the fact that he was a Hungarian. Architecture is the subject of Chapter 13, “Dr. Pevsner.” He was another European obsessed with English architecture and the study and recording of the many examples. Buruma follows this chapter with a discussion of his time as a writer for The Spectator in Chapter 14, “ The Man In The Tweed Coat.” It shows his ambivalence about being an Anglomane. The last chapter, Chapter 15, “The Las Englishman” is a sort of postscript or coda about the separation of England from mainland Europe and what the future might hold.
As usual Burma has written a book that is well researched and a compelling read for anyone interested in England and its relationship with Europe. I like how Bururma drew on his own experiences growing up in Holland with an English mother as well as making observations from his life living in places like Japan, Hong Kong, and England. It is probably only of interest to those who have an interest in British culture and the history of ideas.
Read
January 11, 2015If you like me seek insights into and understanding of other nations' fascination (or a lack of it) with Britain you probably took a wrong book. For it only researches feelings of a few representatives of different nations, whose views quite often are at odds with those of the general populace.
December 10, 2021
A great book on the English and Anglomania. An example for writing about the others in broad sense.
January 31, 2016
An interesting and at times even fascinating romp through European history, with a peculiar Anglo lens. Almost unbelievably, the premise of the book is even more relevant today on the verge of a potential "Brexit" than at the time of publication.
Buruma is an incredibly witty and intelligent writer with an amazing eye for irony. He is a bit too fond of meandering off course through anecdotal side streets which, while often enjoyable trips, come at the expense of any sort of narrative momentum towards the main destination. The last couple chapters felt like an overlong victory lap in a short book that took forever for me to finish. Like the Brits and Brit-wannabes it chronicles, this book is whimsical, eccentric, stuffy, clever and a bit too precious for its own good.
Buruma is an incredibly witty and intelligent writer with an amazing eye for irony. He is a bit too fond of meandering off course through anecdotal side streets which, while often enjoyable trips, come at the expense of any sort of narrative momentum towards the main destination. The last couple chapters felt like an overlong victory lap in a short book that took forever for me to finish. Like the Brits and Brit-wannabes it chronicles, this book is whimsical, eccentric, stuffy, clever and a bit too precious for its own good.
September 28, 2017
I am an Anglophile, so it is only natural that I would read this book; why I waited so long to do so is an open question. Ian Buruma uses a host of European individuals (e.g., Kaiser Wilhelm II and Theodor Herzl) to illustrate the various forms of Anglophilia (and Anglophobia) from Voltaire's time down to the modern day. He also uses his own experience--he is the child of a Dutch father, and an English mother born to parents of German-Jewish ancestry--to illustrate and frame the story. Buruma is the new editor of the NY Review of Books, so it is not surprising that he has a fine mind and a great facility with words. Highly enjoyable and informative read.
Want to read
March 27, 2019"...The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference...". - the UKs first act on the stage of history was of expansive empire, its second heroic resilience and now the curtain has opened on its final act of tragic farce. The European Love Affair is over and indifference is all we are left with.
Good time to read this then.
Good time to read this then.
August 2, 2016
Històries de famosos anglòfils contades d´una forma molt amena.
February 25, 2023
[work in progress...]
One of my better reads lately, really enjoyed this little book. Even though it's not of recent issue, 1998, there's a lot of interesting & varied material here, due to the wide span of history allowed by the topic. And it's related with wit and personal warmth by an author who has his own family connections to England in particular.
Viewed from an outsider's perspective, Great Britain has been a paradox - an "island of liberty" that historically has attracted refugees and freedom seekers, it's also characterized by rampant inequality enforced by a powerful aristocratic elite. Described as a "nation of shopkeepers", Britain's preeminent economic status was based on empire, built on an uncomfortable exchange whereby the comfort and liberties of the prosperous classes was built on the oppression and exploitation of colonial subjects and their natural resources.
A side note: an interesting & related discussion arises in another work "On Grand Strategy" concerning the early development of English liberties. Author John Lewis Gaddis characterizes the British system, specifically under Elizabeth I as a permissive bottom-up vs approach to governing that rewards individual initiative and innovation. By contrast contemporary Phillip II ruled with a an suffocating iron hand, a totally controlled top down strategy of governing, a reflection of his unwavering adherence to a medieval vision of a rigidly hierarchical Catholicism faith. Gaddis poses an excellent historical question - what if the Spanish Armada had succeeded in it's mission in deposing Elizabeth and restoring Catholicism to England ? Would the colonies of North and South America look alike?
For Anglomane Voltaire, English represented a breathe of fresh air, a respite from the heavy hand of monarchical control in France. For the Baron de Coubertin, the first organizer of the modern Olympic Games, the culture of English public school cultivated values of sportsmanship: character building, a sense of duty and fair play, part of a "gentleman culture' with wide appeal to many in continental Europe.
Romantic idealization can cut both ways, as Ian Buruma is quick to point out - yesterday's war heroes have become today's soccer hooligans - far from saving Europe from Nazism, Britons have been regularly embarrassed by news headlines cataloging the drunken hijinks of their more rambunctious citizens in Prague and elsewhere.
One of my better reads lately, really enjoyed this little book. Even though it's not of recent issue, 1998, there's a lot of interesting & varied material here, due to the wide span of history allowed by the topic. And it's related with wit and personal warmth by an author who has his own family connections to England in particular.
Viewed from an outsider's perspective, Great Britain has been a paradox - an "island of liberty" that historically has attracted refugees and freedom seekers, it's also characterized by rampant inequality enforced by a powerful aristocratic elite. Described as a "nation of shopkeepers", Britain's preeminent economic status was based on empire, built on an uncomfortable exchange whereby the comfort and liberties of the prosperous classes was built on the oppression and exploitation of colonial subjects and their natural resources.
A side note: an interesting & related discussion arises in another work "On Grand Strategy" concerning the early development of English liberties. Author John Lewis Gaddis characterizes the British system, specifically under Elizabeth I as a permissive bottom-up vs approach to governing that rewards individual initiative and innovation. By contrast contemporary Phillip II ruled with a an suffocating iron hand, a totally controlled top down strategy of governing, a reflection of his unwavering adherence to a medieval vision of a rigidly hierarchical Catholicism faith. Gaddis poses an excellent historical question - what if the Spanish Armada had succeeded in it's mission in deposing Elizabeth and restoring Catholicism to England ? Would the colonies of North and South America look alike?
For Anglomane Voltaire, English represented a breathe of fresh air, a respite from the heavy hand of monarchical control in France. For the Baron de Coubertin, the first organizer of the modern Olympic Games, the culture of English public school cultivated values of sportsmanship: character building, a sense of duty and fair play, part of a "gentleman culture' with wide appeal to many in continental Europe.
Romantic idealization can cut both ways, as Ian Buruma is quick to point out - yesterday's war heroes have become today's soccer hooligans - far from saving Europe from Nazism, Britons have been regularly embarrassed by news headlines cataloging the drunken hijinks of their more rambunctious citizens in Prague and elsewhere.
Read
September 19, 2025Just can't give it any stars. DNF
These are one of those books I regret reading. Its hard for me to leave a book unfinished but it was just too painful to read about the racist and antisemitic views of the people in this book. The author didn't clearly condemn the views of these figures in history and I just couldn't finish. My conscience couldn't stand it any longer.
These are one of those books I regret reading. Its hard for me to leave a book unfinished but it was just too painful to read about the racist and antisemitic views of the people in this book. The author didn't clearly condemn the views of these figures in history and I just couldn't finish. My conscience couldn't stand it any longer.
December 5, 2016
One of my diseases ...
November 4, 2023
Absolutely first rate book - anyone who has read any of Ian Buruma's many fine books will not need to be persuaded to read this but, if you haven't and are wondering if you should or even are questioning what the book may be about I would first refer you to this books original title 'Voltaire's Coconuts, or, Anglomania in Europe' and secondly an excerpt from the review in the Daily Telegraph '...Fascinating...A deeply thoughtful exploration of the problem if identity, assimilation and belonging...A marvelously stimulatingly, idea-packed book...' Least it is still not clear and, judging by some reviews it has not been, this is a look at how Europeans, beginning with Voltaire and continuing on through a wide and fascinatingly varied selection of in individuals that includes everyone from Marx through Kaiser Wilhelm II, viewed England as, largely, Anglophiles sometimes as Anglophobes as well. One of the finest aspects of this book is the personal perspective that he provides via his own family background (see his wonderful Year Zero: The History of 1945).
November 22, 2008
Started off a tad slow - kind of like being back in school and having an assignment which taxed one's brain - but Ian Buruma is a terrific writer and this sometimes slightly meandering discussion of (mainly) European attitudes towards Britain and les choses anglaises is brilliant & thought-provoking & informative and I loved it.
May 14, 2011
I tried really hard to finish this book, I'm normally a fan of Ian Buruma and enjoy his cultural analysis but I just couldn't get into this one. I finally got stuck on the story of the man who started the modern olympics and got no further.
I may have another go at the second half of the book one day but, on the whole a disappointing read
I may have another go at the second half of the book one day but, on the whole a disappointing read
January 5, 2012
I can't do any better than to quote The Economist's review of this book: "Mr. Buruma's fluency--the ease and erudition with which he mixes anecdote, personal reminiscence and reportage--should not disguise the seriousness of his book--. Readable and intelligent."
August 16, 2015
Low 1. This was a desperately turgid read with far too little structure and far too disparate in scope,
April 22, 2011
A creative and incisive look at how Europeans since the 18th century idealized Britain, and the reality. Broad-ranging, entertaining and informative.
Read
May 16, 2016I couldn't figure out what this was supposed to be about, so I finally gave up. Very literarily unsporting of me, I know - but so little time, so many books.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews