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The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Xenophobe's Guides)
 
 
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The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Xenophobe's Guides) [Paperback]

Paul N. Bilton
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
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Customers buy this book with Living and Working in Switzerland: A Survival Handbook £10.36

The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss (Xenophobe's Guides) + Living and Working in Switzerland: A Survival Handbook
Price For Both: £14.10

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Product details

  • Paperback: 92 pages
  • Publisher: Oval Books; Revised edition edition (24 Aug 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1906042500
  • ISBN-13: 978-1906042509
  • Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.9 x 0.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 112,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Paul Bilton
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Product Description

Product Description

Mountain mentality

Swiss farmers are tough, independent, hard-working, resilient, well-prepared for every kind of natural disaster, and above all staunchly conservative. These characteristics have been passed on to Swiss town-dwellers, who go about their day as if they too were farming a lonely mountain cliff.

 

We can do better

The Swiss stubbornly refuse to believe they are doing well and will even dispute the figures that prove it. So, like the poor donkey chasing the carrot, they pull their collective cart along ever faster, chasing the goal they passed years ago.

 

Peak performers

The perceptions of the Swiss being dull, staid, and boring while at the same time displaying a talent for ruthless efficiency and a limitless capacity for hard work are uncomfortably close to the truth. Likewise the clichéd impressions of high mountains, watches, cheese, chocolate bars, and gold bars are genuine.

 

Degrees of unease

The diversity of the Swiss is apparent in the degree to which they worry. The German-speakers do little else. The French-speaking Swiss are great visionaries and philosophers with noble thoughts and global dreams. They worry that their Swiss-German compatriots do not share these dreams. The Italian-speaking Swiss are less interested in the solid values of work and have a terrible tendency not to worry nearly enough.


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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The author manages to sum up every aspect of the Swiss with a typical British sense of humour! Having lived in Switzerland for some time now - this book was still able to teach me some idiosyncrasies of the Swiss I didnt know. If you want to find out who what where why and how the Swiss do things - read this book. Essential reading for the smallest room in the house.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
This book is Great! 1 Dec 2000
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed Xenophobe's Guide To The Swiss. It kept me laughing but well informed all the way through. I found it to be a very thorough reference to the Swiss. Without being too long and drawn out. I particularly liked the sections on "The Bells" and "Dental Holidays". I liked this book so much I want to send a copy to my whole family.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Pinpoint accuracy including all the little nuances that you hardly notice. This book you re-read, after spending any time in Switzerland, and find yourself nodding in agreement whilst still enjoying the humour with which it is written. The humour is genuine and not aggressive or truly xenophobic like some other 'so called' cultural guides.
Essential reading and pocket sized for real handiness.
Going to Switzerland? Get this book!
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