Items related to The English : A Portrait of a People
This is a brilliantly researched, hugely entertaining study of the English, written and read by Britain's best-known broadcaster. In the light of membership of Europe, the loss of an Empire and a devolved United Kingdom, the English no longer know who they are. Covering every aspect of the English identity (from cricket to Cumberland sausages, St George to Bernie Grant, the "Book of Common Prayer" to Cool Britannia, John Bull to football thugs) and combining popular history with incisive interviews, Jeremy Paxman provides some fascinating and timely answers.
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Review:
What is it about the English? Not the British overall, not the Scots, not the Irish or the Welsh, but the English. Why do they seem so unsure of who they are? As Jeremy Paxman remarks in his preface to The English, being English "used to be so easy". Now, with the Empire gone, with Wales and Scotland moving into more independent postures, with the troubling specter of a united Europe (and despite the raucous hype of "Cool Britannia"), the English seem to have entered a collective crisis of national identity.
About the Author:
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 their fellow nationalities--Jock, Taffy, Paddy, and Mick--but there was no corresponding name for an Englishman. Of course, there is one now, and it comes from one of the bits of empire to which so many undesirables were exported: Whinging Pom. --Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk
Jeremy Paxman was born in Yorkshire and now lives in London and Oxfordshire. He is the main anchor man for Newsnight, chairman of University Challenge and a frequent reviewer.
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- PublisherGardners Books
- Publication date2001
- ISBN 10 0141803347
- ISBN 13 9780141803340
- BindingAudio Cassette
- Rating
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