In WATCHING THE ENGLISH anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. She puts the English national character under her anthropological microscope, and finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and byzantine codes of behaviour. The rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid-pantomime rule. Class indicators and class anxiety tests. The money-talk taboo and many more... Through a mixture of anthropological analysis and her own unorthodox experiments (using herself as a reluctant guinea-pig), Kate Fox discovers what these unwritten behaviour codes tell us about Englishness.

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. Now with new survey data to add weight to her original fieldwork findings, and more extensive field-research and experiments to back up earlier observations, Kate Fox has deciphered yet more enigmatic behaviour codes, adding new rules, new subcultures, new chapters and over 100 updates. If youre English, this new edition of Kate Foxs acclaimed international bestseller will make you stand back and re-examine everything you take for granted - and if you arent English youll finally understand all our peculiar little ways. WATCHING THE ENGLISH has sold more than half a million copies and has been translated into many languages. Not only a worldwide bestseller, but also a set text for university anthropology courses, WATCHING THE ENGLISH has been widely praised as a revealing and entertaining dissection of the English national character.

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. Now with new survey data to add weight to her original fieldwork findings, and more extensive field-research and experiments to back up earlier observations, Kate Fox has deciphered yet more enigmatic behaviour codes, adding new rules, new subcultures, new chapters and over 100 updates. If youre English, this new edition of Kate Foxs acclaimed international bestseller will make you stand back and re-examine everything you take for granted - and if you arent English youll finally understand all our peculiar little ways. WATCHING THE ENGLISH has sold more than half a million copies and has been translated into many languages. Not only a worldwide bestseller, but also a set text for university anthropology courses, WATCHING THE ENGLISH has been widely praised as a revealing and entertaining dissection of the English national character.

'If you like this kind of anthropology (and I do) there is a wealth of it to enjoy in this book. Her observations are acute... fortunately 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 'She has not only compiled a comprehensive list of English qualities, she has examined them in depth and wondered how we came to acquire them. Her book is a delightful read.' THE SUHDAY TIMES 'I loved the section on mobile-phone etiquette... I liked the chapter on English humour. This is an entertaining, clever book. Do read it and then pass it on.' DAILY TELEGRAPH

The English national character is principally an accident of geography and weather. In How England Made the English, Harry Mount scours the length and breadth of the country to find the curiosities, idiosyncrasies and peculiarities that have made us who and what we are. Harry Mount's How England Made the English: From Why We Drive on the Left to Why We Don't Talk to Our Neighbours is packed with astonishing facts and wonderful stories. Q. Why are English train seats so narrow? A. It's all the Romans' fault. The first Victorian trains were built to the same width as horse-drawn wagons; and they were designed to fit the ruts left in the roads by Roman chariots. For readers of Paxman's The English, Bryson's Notes on a Small Island and Fox's Watching the English, this intriguing and witty book explains how our national characteristics - our sense of humour, our hobbies, our favourite foods and our behaviour with the opposite sex - are all defined by our nation's extraordinary geography, geology, climate and weather. You will learn how we would be as freezing cold as Siberia without the Gulf Stream; why we drive on the left-hand side of the road; why the Midlands became the home of the British curry. It identifies the materials that make England, too: the faint pink Aberdeen granite of kerbstones; that precise English mix of air temperature, smell and light that hits you the moment you touch down at Heathrow.

What makes the English so . . . English? The English are often confused about who they are. They say 'British' when they mean 'English', and 'English' when they should say 'British.' And when England, more than the rest of the UK, voted to leave the EU, polls showed national identity was a big concern. So it's time the English sorted out in their minds what it means to be English. A nation's character is moulded by its history. In Who Do the English Think They Are? historian and journalist Derek J. Taylor travels the length and breadth of the country to find answers. He discovers that the first English came from Germany, and then in the later Middle Ages almost became French. He tracks down the origins of English respect for the rule of law, tolerance and a love of political stability. And, when he reaches Victorian times, he investigates the arrogance and snobbishness that have sometimes blighted English behaviour. Finally, Taylor looks ahead and asks: faced with uncharted waters post-Brexit, what is it in their national character that will help guide the English people now?

The Penguin English Library Edition of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen "The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!" Jane Austen's novel tells the story of Marianne Dashwood, who wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

A bright and amusing book with simple explanations and lots of examples to help readers express themselves more clearly in English. It shows how to avoid common mistakes in written English, which punctuation marks to use and sets out the rules (and exceptions) for English spelling. This book contains the following Usborne Guides: English Grammar, English Spelling and English Punctuation.

A popular European folk tale. A little old woman makes a boy out of gingerbread. When she opens the oven, the gingerbread man jumps out and runs away. Animals, farmers and schoolchildren join the chase. Finally a fox offers to carry the gingerbread man across a river. How kind of him - or is it? The Usborne English Readers series is a new range of graded readers in simplified English for younger learners. They include activities, glossaries and a full audio recording of the text in both British English and American English.

With the help of Olly the Owl and his friends, children can explore the rules of written English. The activities in this book build confidence in using capital letters, punctuating sentences and using plurals.

We’ve all seen the fox. A flash of his brushy tail disappearing between the gap of a fence, a blaze of orange caught in the headlights as he scampers across the road. We’ve heard him too, his strange barks echoing in the city night. Perhaps we’ve even come face to face with him, eyes meeting for a few moments before he disappears once more into the darkness. But where is he going, and what is his world really like? In The Hidden World of the Fox, ecologist Adele Brand shines a light on one of Britain’s most familiar yet enigmatic animals, showing us how the astonishing senses, intelligence and behaviour that allowed foxes to thrive in the ancient wildwood now help them survive in the concrete car parks and clattering railway lines of our cities and towns. The result of a lifelong obsession, Brand adds a wealth of firsthand experience to this charming, lyrical love letter to the fox, whether she’s fostering their cubs, studying their interactions with humans, or catching them on hidden cameras everywhere from the Bia owie a forest of Poland and the Thar desert of India to the classic English countryside of her home in the North Downs. While encounters with a host of furry acquaintances – Chatter, Old Dogfox, Sooty, the Interloper, the Vixen from Across the Road – will delight and amuse, her message about the importance of living peaceably side-by-side with nature will linger long after the last page is turned.

Usborne English Learner's Editions are a selection of titles from the bestselling Usborne Reading Programme, offering extra support to learners and teachers of English. Lower Intermediate Level word count: 450-650 words. This is an original tale based on the classic nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built" with simple text and delightful illustrations. The greedy dragon wants the gold hidden in the castle that Jack built. Soon a witch, troll, frog, girl and prince join the story, too. This title is part of the Usborne English Language Learners programme, featuring books from the Usborne Reading Programme, with audio CDs in British and American English, downloadable worksheets and teacher's notes.

In this simplified classic, King Richard of England is away at war. His lazy brother John, helped by the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, rules the land. Only the heroic adventures of the outlaw Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men help to foil the Sheriff's greedy schemes. Macmillan English Explorers have been written specifically for young learners of English. They bring first language teaching methods to reading lessons in international classrooms. Adapted by Gill Munton.

The Penguin English Library Edition of The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe '... an agility astounding, a strength superhuman, a ferocity brutal, a butchery without motive, a grotesquerie in horror absolutely alien from humanity...' Horror, madness, violence and the dark forces hidden in humanity abound in this collection of Poe's brilliant tales, including - among others - the bloody, brutal and baffling murder of a mother and daughter in Paris in 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', the creeping insanity of 'The Tell-Tale Heart', the Gothic nightmare of 'The Masque of the Red Death', and the terrible doom of 'The Fall of the House of Usher'. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Fox is in the forest, wet and cold and hungry. She spots a piece of cheese on the ground - but just as she's about to eat it, Crow snatches it away. Fox really wants the cheese, but Crow won't give it up easily. How can Fox persuade him? With fun activities after the story, and online audio in both British English and American English. Retold by Andy Prentice.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "The American Senator" is a novel written in 1875. It is notable for its depictions of rural English life and for its many detailed fox hunting scenes. The novel is largely set in and near the town of Dillsborough, in the fictional county of Rufford.