The Anglo Files

A Field Guide to the British

De: Sarah Lyall

Narrado por: Cassandra Campbell

Sarah Lyall, a reporter for the New York Times, moved to London in the mid-1990s and soon became known for her amusing and incisive dispatches on her adopted country. As she came to terms with its eccentric inhabitants (the English husband who never turned on the lights, the legislators who behaved like drunken frat boys, the hedgehog lovers, the people who extracted their own teeth), she found that she had a ringside seat at a singular transitional era in British life. The roller-coaster decade of Tony Blair's New Labor government was an increasingly materialistic time when old-world symbols of aristocratic privilege and stiff-upper-lip sensibility collided with modern consumerism, overwrought emotion, and a new (but still unsuccessful) effort to make the trains run on time. Appearing a half-century after Nancy Mitford's classic Noblesse Oblige, Lyall's book is a brilliantly witty account of 21st-century Britain that will be recognized as a contemporary classic.©2008 Sarah Lyall (P)2008 Tantor

An American in the U.K.

As a English person living in the U.S. I was intrigued by the experiences of a writer who was doing the reverse. The author made many keen observations that were insightful and witty. It is always a shock to see ourselves as others see us! However, this recording is blighted by the narrator. Her attempts at English accents would make Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins" sound positively Shakespearean. Also the production was littered with egregious mispronunciations which greatly diminished the enjoyment of the book. This is a situation that could so easily have been rectified.

Mildly Amusing But Not Much Substance

This is a humor book. Sorry. I mean humour book. One mustn't leave out the superfluous British extra letter. It gets a bit funnier than that, but not all that much; although I'll never forget the line about Britain being a "formerly industrialized nation". It has a few funny stories, but in no way does this book live up to its title "A Field Guide to the British." It's not that coherent.

Much of the material is narrow. In particular the large amount of content about Parliamentary reforms and the historical behavior of members of Parliament, especially those in the House of Lords.

What a great book

I saw this book recommended on Rick Steves’ travel website and was thrilled to find it available free with my audible account. I thought reading it might be helpful for an upcoming trip to England. Once I started listening, I couldn’t put it down. The information was fascinating and extremely helpful – and explained so much about so many things I had always wondered. Highly recommended!

Cassandra Campbell is one of my favorite audio narrators, so I was shocked to find her performance a bit lacking here. From the very opening chapter, she mispronounces things. I assume her British accents are spot on, but the mispronunciations threw me so much that I listened to the whole thing with a grain of salt. Still, the book is so well written it is totally worth the listen!

Our British Cousins Must Be Fourth Cousins Once Removed

Their teeth are bad but getting better, the weather is grey the way they like it and their upper lips are a bit less stiff than before the turn of the Millennium. Generally, an interesting look at the British from an American’s point of view. Not much you didn’t already know if you’ve paid attention to things British but lots of interesting anecdotes enliven the telling. An easy, fast and amusing read.

Good narrator, negative view

I really don't mind seeing the seedy or unattractive parts of any country; I think that sugar coating things makes them unreal. However, while I bought the book with the hope that I would hear some of what I heard (insights into the English, some day-to-day realities of living there, their culture and their sociology) it seems like most of it is one massive whinge. She does make a point in the beginning of pointing out good things about the country, bringing fairness to her criticisms, but somehow when the book is done, I was left with a feeling of disgust towards the British. And I am a total Anglophile! Re-listening to try see if my first impression was accurate.