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Jeremy Paxman has set himself the task of finding just what exactly is going on. Why, he wonders, "do the English seem to enjoy feeling so persecuted? What is behind the English obsession with games? How did they acquire their odd attitudes to sex and food? Where did they get their extraordinary capacity for hypocrisy?" He ranges widely in pursuit of answers, sifting through literature, cinema and history. It is an intriguing investigation, encompassing many aspects of national life and character (such as it is), including the obligatory visit to that baffling phenomenon, the funeral of Princess Diana. Yet Paxman finds something fresh and interesting to say about even that now rather threadbare topic. In the end, he seems to find further questions to ask instead of answers. But why not? To him it is a sign that the English are acquiring a new sense of self. And some indication of this might lie in the obvious response to his remark that the English, being top of the British Imperial tree, had nicknames for the fellow nationalities--Jock, Taffy, Paddy and Mick--but there was no corresponding name for an Englishman. Of course, there is now, and it comes from one of the bits of empire to which so many undesirables were exported: Whinging Pom. --Robin Davidson

Average Customer Rating:

Distinctly average

Customer Rating:

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.

Enjoyable and informative

Customer Rating:

Paxo writes well and is a joy to read. This book is far ranging on who we English are, our strange national characteristics which relate to our history. "Like a pair of newly-weds in a sabotaged car, every people sets off into the future clattering behind it the tin-cans of its history." Here are many tin cans and some glimpses too of the possible road ahead. I would recommend this book to visitors to our country. The only slight draw back is that reading it ten years after it was written I sense it is slightly dated. It predates 9-11, the rise of Islamic militancy and a new huge wave of immigration, to say nothing of the effects of devolution and the rise of Scottish nationalism. All these are now having an effect on what it means to be English today. Some of his chapters are masterfull and memorable. Our animosity to the French and the sentimentality over Diana are examples.

Enjoyable and informative

Customer Rating:

Paxo writes well and is a joy to read. This book is far ranging on who we English are, our strange national characteristics which relate to our history. "Like a pair of newly-weds in a sabotaged car, every people sets off into the future clattering behind it the tin-cans of its history." Here are many tin cans and some glimpses too of the possible road ahead. I would recommend this book to visitors to our country. The only slight draw back is that reading it ten years after it was written I sense it is slightly dated. It predates 9-11, the rise of Islamic militancy and a new huge wave of immigration, to say nothing of the effects of devolution and the rise of Scottish nationalism. All these are now having an effect on what it means to be English today. Some of his chapters are masterfull and memorable. Our animosity to the French and the sentimentality over Diana are examples.

Good attempt	Customer Rating:
Doesn't always flow perfectly, but that is because it is very dense and well written. Reading it is not effortless, but well worth it

Heavy weather

Customer Rating:

I expected much from this book, particularly given the glowing praise blazoned on its back cover. Oh dear! Despite (or because) it is so heavily referenced -a commendable sign of scholarly groundwork- ultimately Paxman has achieved little more than to string together a mass of quotations, references and extracts in a singularly meandering and confusing stream of consciousness. As for humour, I am an ordinary middle-of-the-road Englishman from a less privileged background than Jeremy. And I didn't laugh. Not once. Sadly, the self-indulgent Paxman demonstrates neither the warm sense of joy nor common touch of the much more grounded, observant and incisively witty Bryson.