Items related to Voltaire's coconuts, or, Anglomania in Europe
Synopsis
Voltaire's Coconuts is a wonderfully engaging and witty combination of history and biography which looks at how Europeans have been fascinated by all that it means to be English. Dutch by birth, Buruma came to live in England in 1990 for the third time in his life and noticed a new mood of introspection. Englishness was a subject of endless discussion. Fox hunting was debated, loyalty to English cricket a hot issue, and the future of the monarchy rarely out of the news. This worrying over Englishness resulted, in Buruma's words, 'in great balls of intellectual wool', obscuring the more practical reasons why Europeans have admired (or hated) Britain in the past: its liberal institutions, its civil liberties, its delicate balance between social order and the free pursuit of self-interest.
In this brilliant and elegantly written book Buruma examines these ideas about Englishness and what Europeans admired or loathed about Britain. Voltaire wondered why British laws could not be planted in France, or even Serbia, like the precious seeds of coconut trees. Karl Marx thought the English were too stupid to start a revolution; Goethe worshipped Shakespeare; Baron de Coubertin's idea of the modern Olympic Games was inspired by Tom Brown's Schooldays; Theodor Herzl's dream of the Jewish state was fuelled by his love of British aristocracy; and the German Kaiser was convinced that Britain was run by Jews. Combining biographical stories of these European Anglophiles and Anglophobes with memories of his own Anglo-Dutch-German-Jewish family, Ian Buruma has found a wholly original way of describing the relationship between Britain and Europe.
This is a dazzlingly clever book which through its exploration of anglomania shows how much Englishness and people's view of it has shaped modern Europe.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Ian Buruma was born in the Netherlands. He studied Chinese literature in Leyden, and Japanese cinema in Tokyo. He is a regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He lives in London.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherWeidenfeld & Nicolson
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0297643126
- ISBN 13 9780297643128
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages326
- Rating
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Voltaire's coconuts, or, Anglomania in Europe / Ian Buruma
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London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999
ISBN 10: 0297643126
ISBN 13: 9780297643128
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First Edition. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust-wrapper, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description; 326 p. ; 23 cm. Notes; Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-314) and index. Summary; Voltaire's Coconuts is a wonderfully engaging and witty combination of history and biography which looks at how Europeans have been fascinated by all that it means to be English. Dutch by birth, Buruma came to live in England in 1990 for the third time in his life and noticed a new mood of introspection. Englishness was a subject of endless discussion. Fox hunting was debated, loyalty to English cricket a hot issue, and the future of the monarchy rarely out of the news. This worrying over Englishness resulted, in Buruma's words, 'in great balls of intellectual wool', obscuring the more practical reasons why Europeans have admired (or hated) Britain in the past: its liberal institutions, its civil liberties, its delicate balance between social order and the free pursuit of self-interest. In this brilliant and elegantly written book Buruma examines these ideas about Englishness and what Europeans admired or loathed about Britain. Voltaire wondered why British laws could not be planted in France, or even Serbia, like the precious seeds of coconut trees. Karl Marx thought the English were too stupid to start a revolution; Goethe worshipped Shakespeare; Baron de Coubertin's idea of the modern Olympic Games was inspired by Tom Brown's Schooldays; Theodor Herzl's dream of the Jewish state was fuelled by his love of British aristocracy; and the German Kaiser was convinced that Britain was run by Jews. Combining biographical stories of these European Anglophiles and Anglophobes with memories of his own Anglo-Dutch-German-Jewish family, Ian Buruma has found a wholly original way of describing the relationship between Britain and Europe. This is a dazzlingly clever book which through its exploration of anglomania shows how much Englishness and people's view of it has shaped modern Europe. Subjects; National characteristics, British. National characteristics, English. Civilization, Modern English influences. Public opinion Europe. Patriotism Great Britain. National characteristics Great Britain. Great Britain Foreign public opinion, European. Europe Civilization British influences. England Foreign public opinion, European. Europe Relations Great Britain. Europe Biography. Europe Foreign relations England. England Civilization. Great Britain Civilization 18th century. Great Britain Civilization 19th century. Europe Civilization British influence. Europe Biographies. ENGLISHNESS - BRITISH SOCIAL HISTORY. Cultural studies ; Anthropology./ BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 240178
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