The hilariously accurate, witty and indispensable manual for everyone longing to attain True Britishness

How to be a Brit

A complete guide to the British Way of Life. If you're British, you'll love it. If you're not, you'll recognise it. 
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Born in Hungary, George Mikes spent more than forty years in the Britain observing behaviours and misbehaviours of local and foreign Brits. 
 <ul><li>Queuing: &quot;An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.&quot;</li><li>How to plan a town: &quot;Street names should be painted clearly and distinctly on large boards. Then hide these boards carefully.&quot;</li><li>Sex: &quot;Continental people have sex lives: the English have hot water bottles.&quot;</li></ul> 
With essential chapters such as &quot;How to Avoid Travelling&quot;, &quot;In Praise of Television&quot;, &quot;On Not Complaining&quot; and &quot;How to Panic Quietly&quot;, they&rsquo;ll get to know Britain like never before with this fun and informative gift! 
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WHAT READERS ARE SAYING: 
 
'Got me in tears of laughter' 
 
'Hilarious and informative essays about the British way of life' 
 
'So many people have tried to describe the English mentality . . . This book is as near as you can get!' 
 
'Laugh-out-loud hilarious, witty and insightful

In all the miseries which plague mankind, there is hardly anything better than such radiant humour as is given to you. Everyone must laugh with you - even those who are hit with your little arrows.

This is the vital textbook for Brits, would-be Brits, and anyone who wonders what being a Brit really means. Pass me my hot water bottle, please

Mikes is a master of the laconic yet slippery put-down: "The trouble with tea is that originally it was quite a good drink"

I love it and read it cover to cover. Also has good tips for talking about the weather, not that we need them

Full of the very best advice that any would-be Brit should need (and for those of us who have forgotten exactly how it is to be ourselves) it's a jolly good read

How to be an Alien inspired me ... Some of his observations remain remarkably fresh and relevant 70 years later, but it's his tone that impressed me

I used to think that Mikes's world has gone, but it has returned to us in spades via the referendum.

George Mikes (pronounced 'me-cash'), was born in Hungary 1912. In 1938 he moved to London to become the correspondent for a Hungarian newspaper, and then he never left. A keen observer of the behaviour and misbehaviour of foreigners and natives in Britain, he is frequently cited by later authors including Kate Fox and Jeremy Paxman. He died in London in 1987.

A Handbook for Beginners and Advanced Pupils

How to be an Alien

George Mikes says, 'the English have no soul; they have the understatement instead.' But they do have a sense of humour - they provide it by buying over three hundred thousand copies of a book that took them quietly and completely apart, a book that really took the Mikes out of them.

George Mikes

He is witty, observant, tolerant and sane

To write a book is hard; to write a funny book is harder; to write a funny book both wise and funny is the prerogative of Mr. Mikes

If you want to succeed here you must be able to handle the English sense of humour. 
 
So proclaims George Mikes' timeless exploration of this curious phenomenon. Whether it's understatement, self-deprecation or plain cruelty, the three elements he identifies as essential to our sense of humour, being witty here is a way of life. 
 
Perfectly placed as an adopted Englishman himself, Mikes delivers his shrewd advice - helpfully divided into 'Theory' and 'Practice' - with a comic precision that does his chosen country proud. Drawing on a trove of examples from our rich comic canon, from Orwell ("Every joke is a tiny revolution") to Oscar Wilde, this is the essential handbook for natives and foreigners alike. 
 
Mrs Kennedy: "I don't think, Mr Churchill, that I have told you anything about my grandchildren." 
Winston Churchill: "For which, madam, I am infinitely grateful."

George Mikes

Praise for English Humour for Beginners

Wise and witty

Brilliantly comical

Very funny

Wise and witty

Brilliantly comical

Very funny

Wise and witty

Brilliantly comical

Very funny

Books by George Mikes

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