The Anglo Files by Sarah Lyall. I enjoyed this book and immediately passed it on to another Anglophile. Just some essays about certain aspects of the British character, particularly their understatement and tendency towards stoicism. She includes one of my favorite stories of British stiff upper lip-iness to illustrate their manly resolve. Robert Falcon Scott's doomed journey to the South Pole where the Norwegian explorer got there a month before him in a race and Scott died coming back, 11 miles away from a supply depot. His journal entry "I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships,help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past." (!) Not to be outdone his companion, Captain Oates, who was sick announced as he stumbled out of the tent "I am just going outside, and may be some time." before he marched out into a blizzard, never to be seen again.
When the British were asked to come up with a statement of British values in 2007, sort of a catchy mission statement or motto some of the entries were:
"Dipso,Fatso,Bingo,Asbo, Tesco"
"Once mighty empire, slightly used."
"At least we're not French."
"We apologize for the inconvenience."
and finally, the winner:
"No motto please, we're British."
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