Watching the English: The International Bestseller Revised and Updated - Hardcover

Kate Fox

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 144478739X ISBN 13: 9781444787399

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2014

Synopsis

In this completely revised and updated edition of international bestseller WATCHING THE ENGLISH, anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people

About this title

About the Author

Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, is Co-Director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford and a Fellow of the Institute for Cultural Research. She is also a bestselling author of popular social science. Kate's other books include The Racing Tribe: Watching the Horsewatchers and Drinking and Public Disorder (co-author with Dr Peter Marsh). Kate is regularly invited to speak at the major literary festivals, as well as guest lectures and seminars at universities, institutes, embassies, trade and professional conferences, etc. in the UK and overseas. She gave the Christmas Lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, and won a debate against Boris Johnson for Intelligence Squared, among other high-profile engagements. She is frequently quoted in the Press and interviewed on radio and television. Kate has also been a regular columnist for Psychologies magazine. Kate is married to the neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, CBE.

Review

Both hilarious and wincingly accurate in its portrayal of English society * What's on in London * Fascinating . . . excellent -- Lynne Truss, author of * Eats, Shoots and Leaves * Amusing . . . entertaining * The Times * Enjoyable good fun, with underlying seriousness - a book to dip into at random and relish for its many acute observations. * Leicester Mercury * Fascinating . . . Every aspect of English conversation and behaviour is put under the microscope. Watching the English is a thorough study which is interesting and amusing. * Western Daily Press * It's a fascinating and insightful book, but what really sets it apart is the informal style aimed squarely at the intelligent layman. * City Life, Manchester * There's a qualitative difference in the results, the telling detail that adds real weight. Fox brings enough wit and insight to her portrayal of the tribe to raise many a smile of recognition. She has a talent for observation, bringing a sharp and humorous eye and ear to everyday conventions, from the choreography of the English queue to the curious etiquette of weather talk. * The Tablet * Fascinating reading. * Oxford Times * Watching the English is great for a laugh. But even better, it is a fantastic lesson in deciphering culture - not just of the English, but anyone's. I highly recommend it for both your own personal amusement and as a tool to reflect upon the world we live in. -- Dr Erin B. Taylor * Research Fellow, Instituto de Ciencias Sociaias, University of Lisbon * The book captivates at the first page. It's fun. It's also embarrassing. "Yes . . . yes," the reader will constantly exclaim. "I'm always doing that"'. * Manchester Evening News * She's a witty and eloquent writer whose accessible book reads as a scholarly classification of our shared codes of behaviour and an affectionate homage to our foibles. * Metro * A brilliant and witty account of the underlying logic of English culture, which illuminates many of the main concepts of sociocultural anthropology - making it a perfect introductory text to the discipline. It is consistently the most popular text I teach, not only because it's a hilarious page-turner but also because Fox offers truly insightful glimpses into what a sophisticated anthropological mindset can reveal about human cultural life . . . Watching the English embodies the anthropological credo of making the strange familiar and the familiar strage. -- Bianca Dahl * Professor of Anthropology, University of Toronto * Watching the English . . . will make you laugh out loud ("Oh God. I do that!") and cringe simultaneously ("Oh God. I do that as well."). This is a hilarious book which just shows us for what we are . . . beautifully-observed. It is a wonderful read for both the English and those who look at us and wonder why we do what we do. Now they'll know. * Birmingham Post * Watching the English is full of anthropological insights, sometimes acquired unconventionally, and always presented hilariously. It's a fun and provocative read, and does a beautiful job of showing how anthropologists learn about the world. -- Jessaca B. Leinaweaver * Associate Professor of Anthropology, Brown University * She has not only compiled a comprehensive list of English qualities, she has examined them in depth . . . A delightful read. * Sunday Times * Hilarious and insightful -- Daniel Miller * Professor of Material Culture, University College London * I read it cover to cover in a few days . . . very sharp and witty prose. It really is funny - the sort of humour that makes you laugh out loud on your own! -- Martin Parr * Vice * She is smart . . . raises some serious issues . . . poses a challenge to British social anthropology that we need to meet . . . This book should enter into professional discussions of the future of anthropology . . . Fox has astutely lined herself up to take a leading position in a rethink of the discipline's object, theory and method. -- Professor Keith Hart * Anthropology Today * This is an entertaining, clever book. Do read it and then pass it on. * Daily Telegraph * She is the only popular UK anthropologist of substance since the 1970s. -- Jeremy MacClancy * Professor of Anthropology, Oxford Brookes University * Brilliant and hilarious -- Grayson Perry * The Vanity of Small Differences * Her observations are acute . . . she doesn't write like an anthropologist but like an English woman - with amusement, not solemnity, able to laugh at herself as well as us. * Daily Mail * An absolutely brilliant examination of English culture. -- Jennifer Saunders * The Times * Kate Fox's brilliant idea is to treat the British as another tribe...where she's particularly astute is in examining the exact pattern of cliches. Any study of the English must cover our class obsession, and Fox deals with the subject thoroughly. * Harry Mount, author of How England Made the English *

About this edition

• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 144478739X
• ISBN 13: 9781444787399
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528