100 fascinating stories about the quirks and passions of the British, their history and traditions, and what it is - the British spirit. Stories about the Beatles and Big Ben, Guy Fawkes Night and Canterbury Cathedral, pubs and cardigans, English parks and Yorkshire pudding... You will find out why the English and French don’t like each other, how Chinese tea became the British national drink, why the truly English umbrella – black and what school memories make British adults cry. The heroes of the book are Alfred the Great and Punch, coal miners and clerks in striped suits, theater actors and ghosts. “What does it mean to be an Englishman? Look at orders from above with one eye, like Nelson, or, like Wellington, maintain composure and restraint under any circumstances? What is it - a sentimental attachment to animals, a taste for disgusting boiled vegetables, a nostalgic loyalty to tradition, love for the monarchy and sympathy for the underdog? “Perhaps, all of the above together,” believes David Boyle, the author of this book (and a dozen other books on the economy, history and culture of Britain), a famous writer and journalist.