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We're British, Innit: An Irreverent A to Z of All Things British
 
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We're British, Innit: An Irreverent A to Z of All Things British (Hardcover)

by Iain Aitch (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Collins (1 Sep 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007271328
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007271320
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 73,145 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Product Description

Product Description
Forget the Government's Citizenship Test -- this is the real measure of Britishness. Written in a snappy A-Z format, Iain Aitch explores all things British in a highly amusing and evocative way. Whether it's our love of fish and chips, our high regard for James Bond, the innate Britishness of red telephone boxes or the mystery surrounding white dog poo, everything you've ever regarded as being uniquely British is contained within these pages and guaranteed to bring a smile of recognition to even the stiffest of upper lips. Test your knowledge of Britain and what it means to be British by answering the multiple choice questions at the end of the book. What kind of peas are used to make mushy peas? What were the last words of Admiral Lord Nelson? What exactly is Readers' Wives? Were you paying attention? With more style than Jarvis Cocker's moves and more pomp than Elgar's masterpiece, Iain Aitch celebrates all that is truly glorious about good old Blighty. A book for the entire British population - Northerner, Southerner, and even tourist and immigrant alike - this is the perfect read for someone seeking a truly British experience.Aitch gives us the real Britain, not one filtered through the eyes of civil servants or politicians. This is the dictionary of the Britain that you affectionately know and love. From asbos to garden gnomes, Tennent's Super to tube maps, to socks and sandals and spam and Smash potato, this is the most definitive list yet created that encapsulates the sights, sounds and even smells that make Britain what it is today.

About the Author
Iain Aitch is a London-based writer who has written for The Observer, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times, The London Evening Standard, Salon, The Idler and Bizarre. He is also London editor of San Francisco's Dwell magazine. Iain's articles for The Guardian were chosen as the best of the year in 2005 and 2006 by readers of the newspaper. He writes about a mixture of arts, travel and eccentricity, regularly looking at slices of British life. Always brimming with ideas, he is the inventor of World Phone in Sick Day and also initiated the annual London Santacon: a gathering of Santas intent on festive mayhem. Both of these events have been the subject of documentaries by Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4 respectively.

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We're British, Innit: An Irreverent A to Z of All Things British
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Customer Reviews

87 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (29)
3 star:
 (26)
2 star:
 (19)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (87 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A cheeky little book on all things British!, 14 Sep 2008
By Uncle Barbar (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
  
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Firstly, I must admit - I DO enjoy these types of books. They revel in all things British but do so in a tongue-in-cheek way - it's important not to get too hung up on our national heritage! We're quite an eccentric lot when you look at us - and this book brings this fact out in full.

The book is alphabetical rather than by topic which probably meant sense to the author - although I'd have preferred it by topic myself. For instance the "C" chapter covers Caravanning, Carry-On, Changing the Guard, Chavs, Cheese-rolling, Chips, Church Bells, Churchill etc - all described in an amusing way. Some entries will make you mildly titter and others will make you laugh-out-loud.

All in all an excellent little book - almost 250 pages of "irreverent" humour. I'm guessing it will be a popular book for "male significant others" at xmas!
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, accurate and bang up to date. Read it and enjoy!, 3 Sep 2008
By R. S. Bacon "Aresby" (Milton Keynes, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Having been reduced to a giggling wreck on more than one occasion in my local library whilst reading this highly irreverent, yet nonetheless highly accurate portrayal of all things British, I have now taken to reading it in the privacy of my own home.

Whilst some of Aitch's observations are a bit near the mark for the younger reader, they are nonetheless all the more accurate because of his pragmatic use of the, well, let's be charitable and say vernacular use of English. That's not to say this book is any way gratuitous in its recording of everyday expressions, and the limited expletives just make the book even funnier.

In some ways I feel sorry for any immigrants grappling with the UK Citizen Test who might be tempted to read this book as real-world study aid; unless you are born and bred in this country much of it will be meaningless. Perhaps its understanding should BE the citizenship test - a knowledge of greater value than the lineage of our own royal family, for instance.

Having said that, if you do understand the references in his A-to-Z march through what it means to be British, then you will be firstly highly amused and, secondly, moderately educated (did you know that the "HP" in HP Sauce actually stands for Houses of Parliament?)

The book is bang up-to-date with references to the new Lord Mayor of London, as well as Gordon Brown and illegal immigrant smuggling, so no fear that you'll be reading what was once considered British back in the days of colonies; the title of the book itself is a good indication that this is a study of Britishness in the late naughties.

I'm still chuckling (actually more ROFL) at the innate rights of hackney carriage drivers (especially in London) and the Five Words with which the prime minister failed to encapsulate Britishness, especially with regard to Aitch's suggestion concerning the French and the White Cliffs of Dover. Only if you truly understand the British sentiment will you understand why that entry is funny.

A perfect present for Dad, Uncle Jim and Aunty Maud, Granddad too - and something that can be dipped into now and again or read from cover to cover.

It's certainly on my list of books to be kept and read now and again when I'm feeling a bit down in the dumps!
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11 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Feeling a bit down? Read this to cheer you up, 27 Aug 2008
By Sally Wilton "Sally" (Bournemouth UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This is a great book to read out loud to a group of people and have a light hearted discussion. We have had a lot of fun with it with my family. You can dip into it, have a good laugh on your own and pass it on afterwards to someone who is feeling a bit down.

Everything British is lampooned from Argos inspired Chavs to Bed and Breakfast, complete with tinned tomatoes!

Iain Aitch has some intriguing viewpoints which will strike a chord with anyone who has been brought up in this country. It certainly separates the Brits from Johnny Foreigner with our love of good old fashioned scratchy blankets v duvets, the brewery byproduct also known as Marmite and the nouveau riche (common peoples) enthusiastic use of stretch limos, normally the preserve of high ranking officials and diplomats in any other country in the world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Witty and amusing and very British
We're British, Innit is exactly what it says it is - a mildly irreverent look at our national foibles. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Anthony Lynas

2.0 out of 5 stars A bit dull
Although this little book can be funny in places, I found it mostly dull. The book goes through A-Z in British culture: starting from Alcopops to Zoophilia. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jurgen Van Gael

2.0 out of 5 stars Could be better
I see a lot of positive reviews for this book and wonder if there is something I'm missing.

The shame is this book could have been brilliant, the idea of making... Read more
Published 3 months ago by SC Dog

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun - if you like that sort of thing
There are plenty of this sort of book out there - especially around xmas time! Well, men are so difficult to buy for, aren't they?! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. D. J. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Never a truer word spoken in jest.
Very lighthearted. Very observant. Politically incorrect and absolutely spot on. If you want to get a snap shot of what britain and its people are really like tehn give this book... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. P. Tanner

3.0 out of 5 stars Factual but Funny
After reading "is it just me or is everything s**t" I knew what to expect from this book. It is the same sort of contex - basically making fun out the British with stereotypical... Read more
Published 6 months ago by MusicMan

2.0 out of 5 stars Take it or leave it
It's not as funnily written as Bollocks to Alton Towers, which I think is in the same category as this book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by C. Clark

3.0 out of 5 stars Raised a titter if not a guffaw
Other reviewers have recommended this book as a "bathroom book" - not necessarily for its toilet humour, but more because it's better to dip in and out of rather than read in one... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Araluen

2.0 out of 5 stars Mildly amusing
This title is a few years behind the proliferation of books about Britain and Britishness and doesn't have anything new or interesting to say about our culture... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Steerforth

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as funny as it could or should have been
I was hoping and expecting this to be a funny book but I was disappointed to find that while its written in a way which is supposed to be humorous, but at best it raised a slight... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. C. Oliff

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