The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the English

New York Times Bestseller

“An exquisite, hilarious and devastating dissection.” ―Malcolm Gladwell

Why do the English keep apologizing? Why are they so unenthusiastic about enthusiasm? Why does rain surprise them? When are they being ironic, and how can you tell? Even after eighteen years in London, New York Times reporter Sarah Lyall remained perplexed and intrigued by its curious inhabitants and their curious customs. She’s since returned to the United States, but this distillation of incisive―and irreverent―insights, now updated with a new preface, is just as illuminating today. And perhaps even more so, in the wake of Brexit and the attendant national identity crisis.

While there may be no easy answer to the question of how, exactly, to understand the English, The Anglo Files―part anthropological field study, part memoir―helps point the way.

Sarah Lyall, a writer at large for the New York Times, lived in London until 2013, when she moved back home to New York. She’s still adjusting.