How England Made the English, Harry Mount
How England Made the English, Harry Mount
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 …




























