The international classic and bestseller, Maya Angelou's memoir paints a portrait of 'a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman' (BARACK OBAMA).
'I write about being a Black American woman, however, I am always talking about what it's like to be a human being. This is how we are, what makes us laugh, and this is how we fall and how we somehow, amazingly, stand up again' Maya Angelou
In this first volume of her seven books of autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American south of the 1930s. Loving the world, she also knows its cruelty. As a Black woman she has known discrimination, violence and extreme poverty, but also hope, joy, achievement and celebration.
'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity' JAMES BALDWIN
'She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace . . . She will always be the rainbow in my clouds' OPRAH WINFREY
'She was important in so many ways. She launched African American women writing in the United States. She was generous to a fault. She had nineteen talents - used ten. And was a real original. There is no duplicate' TONI MORRISON
'These journals are a revelation, a road map and a gift to us all' TAYARI JONES, author of An American Marriage
'Walker writes beautifully about the push and pull of intimacy . . . You find yourself admiring her idealism, her gift as a writer and her abundant appetite for life' THE TELEGRAPH
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, Gathering Blossoms Under Fire presents four decades' worth of personal journals to offer a passionate, intimate record of Alice Walker's intellectual, artistic and political development.
Walker writes in an unvarnished and singular voice about an astonishing array of events: marching in Mississippi with civil rights foot soldiers, marrying a Jewish lawyer and defying 1960s anti-interracial marriage laws, writing her first novel, experiencing the trials and triumphs of the women's movement, being both admired and maligned for her work and activism, burying her mother and estrangement from her daughter. Her journals reveal an inextricable intertwining of the personal and political, exploring her thoughts and feelings in real time as a woman, writer, African American, wife, daughter, mother, lover, sister, friend and citizen of the world.
*Winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize*
'Malala is an inspiration to girls and women all over the world' J K Rowling
'Inspirational and powerful' GRAZIA
'For sheer inspiration read I Am Malala' SUNDAY TIMES
'A tale of immense courage and conviction' INDEPENDENT
'She has the heart and courage of a lioness and is a true inspiration' Lorraine Kelly, THE SUN
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, 9 October 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price when she was shot in the head at point-blank range.
Malala Yousafzai's extraordinary journey has taken her from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations. She has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and is the youngest ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.
*****
'Malala is an inspiration to girls and women all over the world' JK Rowling
'Moving and illuminating' Observer
'Inspirational and powerful' Grazia
'Her story is astonishing' Spectator
'Drama, betrayal, religion and sex, it's all here ... Fascinating' GUARDIAN
'Beautifully paced, impeccably written ... Don't miss it' INDEPENDENT
'Fraser is at her best here, lucid, authoritative and compassionate' SUNDAY TIMES
'Superbly researched ... the definitive work on the ill-fated queen' CATHOLIC HERALD
Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse mixed emotions. To many people, she is still 'la reine méchante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny.
Antonia Fraser examines her influence over the king, Louis XVI, the accusations and sexual slurs made against her, her patronage of the arts which enhanced French cultural life, her imprisonment, the death threats made against her, rumours of lesbian affairs, her trial (during which her young son was forced to testify to sexual abuse by his mother) and her eventual execution by guillotine in 1793.
Stock market multimillionaire at 26. Federal convict at 36. The iconic true story of greed, power and excess.
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND MAJOR MOVIE SENSATION, DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE AND STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO
'What separates Jordan's story from others like it, is the brutal honesty.' - Leonardo DiCaprio
By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could. From the binge that sunk a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him for at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in Jordan Belfort's own words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called THE WOLF OF WALL STREET.
In the 1990s Jordan Belfort became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. It's an extraordinary story of greed, power and excess no one could invent - and then it all came crashing down.
'The outrageous memoirs of the real Gordon Gekko' Daily Mail
'Reads like a cross between Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities and Scorsese's Goodfellas' Sunday Times
'Johnny Cash ... Every man could relate to him, no man could be him, and only one man could get inside his head - Robert Hilburn' BONO
People don't just listen to Johnny Cash: they believe in him. But no one has told the Man in Black's full story, until now.
In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine. As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash well throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed Cash and his wife June Carter for the final time just months before their deaths in 2003. Hilburn's rich reporting shows the remarkable highs and deep lows that followed and haunted Cash in equal measure. A man of great faith and humbling addiction, Cash aimed for more than another hit for the jukebox; he wanted his music to lift people's spirits.
Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture - not only a towering figure in country music, but also a seminal influence in rock, whose personal life was far more troubled, and whose musical and lyrical artistry much more profound, than even his most devoted fans ever realised.
Letters to the Midwife is a wonderful collection of correspondence received by Jennifer Worth, offering a fascinating glimpse into a long-lost world.Along with readers' responses and personal histories, it is filled with all sorts of heart-warming gems. There are stories from other midwives, lorry drivers, even a seamstress, all with tales to tell.Containing previously unpublished material describing her time spent in Paris and some journal entries, this is also a portrait of Jennifer herself, complete with a moving introduction by her family about the woman they knew and loved.
The life of Gertrude Bell is now the subject of the major motion picture Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco and Damian Lewis
Turning away from privileged Victorian Britain, Gertrude Bell explored, mapped and excavated the world of the Arabs, winning the trust of Arab sheiks and chieftains along the way. When the First World War erupted and the British needed the loyalty of Arab leaders, Gertrude Bell provided the intelligence for T.E. Lawrence's military activities. After the war, she played a major role in creating the modern Middle East, and was generally considered the most powerful woman in the British Empire.
In this major reassessment of Bell's life, Janet Wallach reveals a woman whose achievements and independent spirit were especially remarkable for her times, and who brought the same passion and intensity to her explorations as she did to her rich and romantic life.
Bestselling biography of the enduringly fascinating Wallis Simpson
One of Britain's most distinguished biographers turns her focus on one of the most vilified women of the twentieth century. Historian Anne Sebba has written the first full biography by a woman of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.
'That woman', as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became a hate figure for ensnaring a British king and destabilising the monarchy. Neither beautiful nor brilliant, she nevertheless became one of the most talked-about women of her generation, and she inspired such deep love and adoration in Edward VIII that he gave up a throne and an empire for her. Wallis lived by her wit and her wits, while both her apparent and alleged moral transgressions added to her aura and dazzle.
Based on new archives and material only recently made available, this scrupulously researched biography sheds new light on the character and motivations of a powerful, charismatic and complex woman.
Herman Van Rompuy livre ici un ouvrage riche en réflexions et pensées sur le monde politique actuel, mais pas que...
Herman Van Rompuy est un politicien-penseur. Doté d'un esprit analytique, il a permis à l'Europe de maintenir son cap pendant les pires tempêtes. Aujourd'hui âgé de 70 ans, il livre ses Anti-mémoires. À chaque page, un flux de pensées à laisser décanter. L'ouvrage, construit en vingt chapitres courts et teinté d'une touche philosophique, mêle expérience et réflexion, et est écrit d'une plume humble, mais bien aiguisée. Anti-mémoires est un livre qui donne à réfléchir. Herman Van Rompuy jette un regard dans le rétroviseur avec une « solidité tranquille », de la même façon qu'il observe le présent et se tourne vers l'avenir. Il s'exprime en véritable homme d'État.
Laissez-vous embarquer par les Anti-mémoires d'un homme qui, d'une plume aiguisée, livre ses réflexions et ses expériences d'homme d'Etat.
EXTRAIT
Bien qu'on n'ait jamais autant tenu compte des préférences individuelles, l'homme d'aujourd'hui a l'impression qu'il n'a rien ou peu à dire et qu'il est menacé ou manipulé par les entreprises ou les hommes politiques. Les rectificatifs ne suffisent donc pas. Mais le plus grand rectificatif échappe aux décideurs politiques et autres entreprises. Il subsiste un déficit éthique qui ne place pas l'autre au centre, mais l'intérêt personnel. La « fraternité » des Lumières ou l'amour du prochain prôné par le Christ ne sont plus très répandus. Combler ce déficit éthique est une lutte quotidienne et une mission à accomplir par la société civile ou tout simplement par chacun d'entre nous. Nous devons également penser de plus en plus au bien-être de ceux qui n'existent pas encore, des enfants encore à naître.
Le courage politique consiste parfois à avancer contre les courants qui préconisent des solutions de facilité flattant les besoins immédiats de ce que l'on croit être la majorité des citoyens. Le populisme en est un exemple. Ces partis ne prennent pas la peine de se demander si c'est une bonne chose à long terme. Ils exploitent des sentiments facilement manipulables où intervient toujours la peur de l'autre. Mais pas de n'importe quel autre. De préférence l'autre autre. Facilement identifiable.
CE QU'EN PENSE LA CRITIQUE
N'attendez pas des Anti-mémoires d'Herman Van Rompuy des révélations sur des crises oubliées de longue date ou sur des conflits avec des opposants politiques, mais les leçons de vie d'un homme qui a passé plu de quarante ans en politique nationale et internationale.
Enchanting memoir of a struggling writer living and working in the eccentric Parisian bookshop, 'Shakespeare and Company'
'Completely riveting ...a vivid picture of modern Paris' OBSERVER
'Shakespeare and Company' in Paris is one of the world's most famous bookshops. The original store opened in 1921 and became known as the haunt of literary greats, such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Bernard Shaw, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce.
Sadly the shop was forced to close in 1941, but that was not the end of 'Shakespeare and Company'... In 1951 another bookshop, with a similar free-thinking ethos, opened on the Left Bank. Called 'Le Mistral', it had beds for those of a literary mindset who found themselves down on their luck and, in 1964, it resurrected the name 'Shakespeare and Company' and became the principal meeting place for Beatnik poets, such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, through to Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell.
Today the tradition continues and writers still find their way to this bizarre establishment, one of them being Jeremy Mercer. With no friends, no job, no money and no prospects, the thrill of escape from his life in Canada soon palls but, by chance, he happens upon the fairytale world of 'Shakespeare and Co' and is taken in.
What follows is his tale of his time there, the curious people who came and went, the realities of being down and out in the 'city of light' and, in particular, his relationship with the beguiling octogenarian owner, George.
As seen in the new movie The Post, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep, here is the captivating, inside story of the woman who piloted the Washington Post during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of American media.
In this bestselling and widely acclaimed memoir, Katharine Graham, the woman who piloted the Washington Post through the scandals of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, tells her story - one that is extraordinary both for the events it encompasses and for the courage, candour and dignity of its telling.
Here is the awkward child who grew up amid material wealth and emotional isolation; the young bride who watched her brilliant, charismatic husband - a confidant to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson - plunge into the mental illness that would culminate in his suicide. And here is the widow who shook off her grief and insecurity to take on a president and a pressman's union as she entered the profane boys' club of the newspaper business.
As timely now as ever, Personal History is an exemplary record of our history and of the woman who played such a shaping role within them, discovering her own strength and sense of self as she confronted - and mastered - the personal and professional crises of her fascinating life.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
'He's like an American Alan Bennett, in that his own fastidiousness becomes the joke, as per the taxi encounter, or his diary entry about waiting interminably in a coffee-bar queue' Guardian review of An Evening with David Sedaris
The point is to find out who you are and to be true to that person. Because so often you can't. Won't people turn away if they know the real me? you wonder. The me that hates my own child, that put my perfectly healthy dog to sleep? The me who thinks, deep down, that maybe The Wire was overrated?
For nearly four decades, David Sedaris has faithfully kept a diary in which he records his thoughts and observations on the odd and funny events he witnesses. Anyone who has attended a live Sedaris event knows that his diary readings are often among the most joyful parts of the evening. In Theft by Finding, Sedaris brings us his favourite entries. From the family home in Raleigh, North Carolina, we follow Sedaris as he sets out to make his way in the world. As an art student and then teacher in Chicago he works at a succession of very odd jobs, meeting even odder people, before moving to New York to pursue a career as a writer - where instead he very quickly lands a job in Macy's department store as an elf in Santaland . . .
Tender, hilarious, illuminating, and endlessly captivating, Theft by Finding offers a rare look into the mind of one of our generation's greatest comic geniuses.
The Sunday Times bestselling autobiography from the greatest tennis player of his generation
'A winner' Independent
'A terrific sporting memoir, full of memorable anecdotes' New Statesman
'As exciting as Rafa himself' Woman's Own
No tennis player since Andre Agassi has captivated the world like Rafael Nadal. He's a rarity in today's sporting arena - a true sportsman who chooses to let his raw talent, dedication and humility define him. With a remarkable 16 grand slam victories under his belt, and with friend and rival Roger Federer's record haul of 20 in his sights, Nadal is an extraordinary competitor whose ferocity on court is made even more remarkable by his grace off it.
This book takes us to the heart of Nadal's childhood, his growth as a player, and his incredible career. It includes memorable highs and lows, from victory in the 2008 Wimbledon final - a match that John McEnroe called the 'greatest game of tennis ever played' - to the injury problems that have frequently threatened his dominance of the sport, to becoming the youngest player of the open era to complete a career Grand Slam in 2010.
It transports us from Nadal's lifelong home on the island of Majorca to the locker room of Centre Court as he describes in detail the pressures of competing in the greatest tournament in the world. It offers a glimpse behind the racquet to learn what really makes this intensely private person - who has never before talked about his home life - tick. And it provides us with a story that is personal, revealing and every bit as exciting as Nadal himself.
Ground-breaking biography of the creator of fiction's best loved detective
Though Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's name is recognised the world over, for decades he was overshadowed by his creation, Sherlock Holmes - one of literature's most enduring characters.
Conan Doyle was a man of many contradictions. Romantic, energetic, idealistic and upstanding, he could also be selfish and foolhardy. Lycett assembles the many threads of Conan Doyle's life, including the lasting impact of his domineering mother and his alcoholic father; his affair with a younger woman while his wife lay dying; and his fanatical pursuit of scientific data to prove and explain various supernatural phenomena.
Lycett combines access to new material with assiduous research and penetrating insight to offer the most comprehensive, lucid and sympathetic portrait yet of Conan Doyle's personal journey from student to doctor, from world-famous author to ardent spiritualist.
From the bestselling author of ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET? (Radio 2 Book of the Year & voted Amazon Customers' Fave Kindle Read 2011) comes a new hilarious and touching story of travel chaos.
Chosen as one of Amazon's Best Kindle Books of 2013 Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining. Ten thousand miles later his family's been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult and, after a near drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy, his own marriage is in jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean it's a bumpy ride as Ben takes a stand against tyrannical French pool attendants, finds himself running with the bulls in Pamplona and almost starring in a snuff movie after a near fatal decision to climb into a millionaire's Chevrolet Blazer.
Funny and poignant, Road to Rouen asks important questions about life, marriage and whether it's ever acceptable to tape baguette to your children's legs to smuggle lunch into Disneyland Paris.
Ingrid Betancourt's story - her exemplary courage, spirit and resilience - has captured the world's imagination. A politician and presidential candidate celebrated for her determination to combat the corruption and climate of fear endemic in Colombia, in 2002 she was taken hostage by FARC, a terrorist guerrilla organisation. She was held captive in the depths of the jungle for six and a half years, chained day and night for much of that time, constantly on the move and enduring gruelling conditions. She was freed and reunited with her children and relatives in 2008.
It is Betancourt's indomitable spirit that drives this important and deeply moving book, telling in her own words the extraordinary drama of her capture and eventual rescue, and describes her fight to survive, mentally and physically. As she confronts the horror of what she went through, her story also goes beyond the specifics of her own confinement to offer an intensely intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate reflection on what it means to be human.
Au fil de l'histoire, des règles et des lois ont été édictées pour conforter la propriété privée naissante. Enfin, la construction des Etats et des Nations s'est concrétisée par l'élaboration des frontières. Qu'en est-il des populations nomades ? Quelle est la réalité de l'immigration légale et illégale ? Comment l'Europe accueille les migrants et combat l'immigration clandestine ? Les politiques d'intégrations sont-elles à la hauteur des enjeux ? Peut-on imaginer une société cosmopolite sans frontière et sans passeport ? (Articles en français et en anglais).
The adventurous young women who sailed to India during the Raj in search of husbands.
From the late 19th century, when the Raj was at its height, many of Britain's best and brightest young men went out to India to work as administrators, soldiers and businessmen. With the advent of steam travel and the opening of the Suez Canal, countless young women, suffering at the lack of eligible men in Britain, followed in their wake. This amorphous band was composed of daughters returning after their English education, girls invited to stay with married sisters or friends, and yet others whose declared or undeclared goal was simply to find a husband. They were known as the Fishing Fleet, and this book is their story, hitherto untold.
For these young women, often away from home for the first time, one thing they could be sure of was a rollicking good time. By the early 20th century, a hectic social scene was in place, with dances, parties, amateur theatricals, picnics, tennis tournaments, cinemas and gymkhanas, with perhaps a tiger shoot and a glittering dinner at a raja's palace thrown in. And, with men outnumbering women by roughly four to one, romances were conducted at alarming speed and marriages were frequent. But after the honeymoon, life often changed dramatically: whisked off to a remote outpost with few other Europeans for company, and where constant vigilance was required to guard against disease, they found it a far cry from the social whirlwind of their first arrival.
Anne de Courcy's sparkling narrative is enriched by a wealth of first-hand sources - unpublished memoirs, letters and diaries rescued from attics - which bring this forgotten era vividly to life.
This book invites each one of us to learn from the mistakes of people who are victimes of AIDS. It also contains basic information on AIDS, various messages to specific categories of people, a strong appeal to repeal traditional evils against women, secret messages by various people to their sexual partner, an appendix that consists of texts which further encourage us to lead a safe sexual behavior.
A unique testimony to modern literature's most celebrated and enduring marriage.
'I first saw Harold across a crowded room, but it was lunchtime, not some enchanted evening, and we did not speak.'
When Antonia Fraser met Harold Pinter she was a celebrated biographer and he was Britain's finest playwright. Both were already married - Pinter to the actress Vivien Merchant and Fraser to the politician Hugh Fraser - but their union seemed inevitable from the moment they met: 'I would have found you somehow', Pinter told Fraser. Their relationship flourished until Pinter's death on Christmas Eve 2008 and was a source of delight and inspiration to them both until the very end.
Fraser uses her Diaries and her own recollections to tell a touching love story. But this is also a memoir of a partnership between two of the greatest literary talents, with fascinating glimpses into their creativity and their illustrious circle of friends from the literary, political and theatrical world.
« Ecco la mia storia, quella di una persona che, sebbene nata in un contesto di precarietà, finisce per diventare fonte d'ispirazione. È il resoconto di un'infanzia particolare e di un percorso inaspettato. Da Baleveng, il mio villaggio natale situato nella Regione Ovest del Camerun, passando per Yaoundé, la capitale politica dello Stato, e fino all'Italia, propongo al lettore un tragitto atipico, condividendo con lui gli obiettivi che mi sono prefisso, nella consapevolezza delle difficoltà da sormontare. Non importa il punto di partenza, quello di arrivo può sfidare ogni previsione e questo racconto-verità è dedicato a quanti mi hanno dato i mezzi per eludere il fato a cui, probabilmente, ero predestinato. »
« Voici mon histoire, celle d'une personne qui, bien que née dans la précarité, finit par devenir source d'inspiration. Vous y trouverez le compte-rendu d'une enfance particulière et d'une trajectoire inattendue. De Baleveng, mon village natal dans la Région Ouest du Cameroun, en passant par Yaoundé, la capitale politique du Pays, pour atteindre enfin l'Italie, vous aurez la possibilité de découvrir un parcours atypique, orienté par une vision consciente des difficultés à surmonter. Peu importe le point de départ, celui d'arrivée peut déjouer tous les pronostics et ce récit est dédié à ceux qui m'ont donné les moyens de modifier le sort auquel j'étais probablement prédestiné. »
From the executive director of music at Billboard, an extensive look inside the 20+ year career of mega-selling rock band Linkin Park, featuring new interviews, exclusive quotes, and insights from the band’s associates and collaborators Linkin Park is one of the 21st Century’s biggest, and most important, rock bands. All it takes is one quick glance at the numbers— 11 Top 40 hits on the Hot 100 and six No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, over a dozen massive tours, 27 major award wins, 100+ million records sold worldwide, over 30 million monthly Spotify listeners —to realize that when it comes to the metrics of music consumption and fandom, there’s no bigger group in recent memory. And yet, despite their enduring legacy within rock, there’s never been a full, comprehensive biography of Linkin Park—until now. In IT STARTS WITH ONE: The Legend and Legacy of Linkin Park, Billboard's executive director of music, Jason Lipshutz, chronicles the innovation and influence of this legendary band, from their early childhoods to the moment their paths crossed to the genesis of their iconic first album, Hybrid Theory, and all that followed. Not only were they able to synthesize trends in pop and hip-hop amidst the post-grunge era and nu metal boom, then constantly reinvent their sound over multiple albums, Linkin Park’s radically vulnerable lyrics also helped usher in a new era of artists (and fans) more open to discussing mental health and prioritizing inclusivity. Led by their front men, Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, who balanced each other out artistically, Linkin Park never shied away from songs that put their issues front and center, for the world to see and feel. Tragically, Chester succumbed to his demons and passed away in 2017, but the music endures—and in order to truly appreciate the band’s singular power to bring people together, we need to take a closer look at how exactly Linkin Park changed popular music. Through in-depth reporting and interviews, as well as new reflections from their collaborators and contemporaries, IT STARTS WITH ONE explores how one band made such a big impact on modern music, effectively cementing Linkin Park’s long overdue place in music history.
Foreigner Adrian Gill (a Scot) goes in search of the essence of England and the English
The English are naturally, congenitally, collectively and singularly, livid much of the time. In between the incoherent bellowing of the terraces and the pursed, rigid eye-rolling of the commuter carriage, they reach the end of their tethers and the thin end of their wedges. They're incensed, incandescent, splenetic, prickly, touchy and fractious. They sit apart on their half of a damply disappointing little island, nursing and picking at their irritations.
Perhaps aware that they're living on top of a keg of fulminating fury, the English have, throughout their history, come up with hundreds of ingenious and bizarre ways to diffuse anger or transform it into something benign. Good manners and queues, roundabouts and garden sheds, and almost every game ever invented from tennis to bridge. They've built things, discovered stuff, made puddings, written hymns and novels, and for people who don't like to talk much, they have come up with the most minutely nuanced and replete language ever spoken - just so there'll be no misunderstandings. In this hugely witty, personal and readable book, A.A. Gill looks anger and the English straight in the eye.
