Customer Reviews

The Xenophobe's Guide to the English (Xenophobe's Guides - Oval Books)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am British myself (and only came on the American Amazon site to view how you Americans saw the book). This book is wonderfully true. If anyone dares to disagree they must not know the English! I would strongly advise anyone visiting England to read this book first! Its tells you all you need to know about us in a hilarious and true fashion. I recently visited America and realised what a huge culture difference there is between us both. I plan on buying the American version soon. Hopefully it will live up to the English version.
The only criticism I have for the book was that it wasn't very long, only about a hundred and something pages. Although, that said, it's ideal for a plane flight. I read the whole book in about an hour. It's very addictive.
Anyway, if you want to be in the know about us English then buy the book. You wont regret it!

P.S
A little note to anyone who plans to visit England...AVOID A RESTRANT (if you can call it that) CALLED 'LITTLE CHEF' AT ALL COSTS. I see many tourists come to England and go to a little chef thinking that English food is just bad and that's why the food is like that. Truth is its not. They also charge a fortune and serve you up something that makes cat sick look appetising. Avoid if you can!

Having read the xenophobe's guide to the Swiss, and having lived in England, I truly hoped to get a real hoot out of this book. However, it was not nearly as irreverant as the Swiss book, which was a double whammy to me because that is EXACTLY what is so dear about the British people!! However, most of the points are valid and if you're simply looking for some clues about how to behave when visiting England, this book is probably pretty good for you.

This book reviews the English way of life, with all its pecualiarities and also with its contradictions. You will enjoy it if: a) you know the English way and check that you weren't the only one to find those strange behaviours. b) You are an englishman/woman with good sense of humor that enjoy knowing how the people see you. I can't wait to read "Xenophobe's guide to the Spanish", just to check if I have the sense of humour I've always thought. It'll be funny to know which aspects of my daily life are strange to the others.

I've purchased 6 countries so far on these Xenophobes Guide books. It's the most unique, time saving way to understand any culture. All the research has been done for you and condensed in a neat little book that you can travel with. Quick to read, extremely informative, unbiased and very funny reading. I plan to have the entire collection. Highly recommended.

Written with a good degree of wit and observation it is a shame that the book is not longer.

I'm taking a trip to England in a couple weeks and I was going through the travel section where they have the travel guides and I came across this book and I thumbed through it...And since I correspond with people in England it was very interesting to me...and as reading it I found myself smiling cause of some of the things mentioned were true, and I couldn't help but buy it and read it completely. Despite the fact that I found it focusing on the negative aspects, I think that that is to prepare you for some facts that you will find true in the English...(The good side will always cheer us, and the person I deal with is full of beauty and life, but the bad I rather not be surprised with). Overall a great insite to the mentality in a comical way.

I think that most of these guides were written by British people. Coincidentally, they are pretty objective until you get to this one. Since the Brits consider themselves to be brutally honest, I was hoping that the authors would mention ALCOHOL under the 'Obsessions' chapter. Hardly. 'The Pub' is described as a social setting when it should be described as a social ill. The 'Character' chapter starts off with, "Moderation means a lot to the English". That in itself is laughable. This book is obviously about England before dark. After dark, it's a whole different country, and the authors are truly in denial.