{"product_id":"how-england-made-the-english","title":"How England Made The English","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHarry Mount''s \u003ci\u003eHow England Made the English: From Why We Drive on the Left to Why We Don''t Talk to Our Neighbours\u003c\/i\u003e is packed with astonishing facts and wonderful stories.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eQ. Why are English train seats so narrow?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA. It''s all the Romans'' fault. The first Victorian trains were built to the same width as horse-drawn wagons; and they were designed to fit the ruts left in the roads by Roman chariots. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor readers of Paxman''s \u003ci\u003eThe English, \u003c\/i\u003eBryson''s \u003ci\u003eNotes on a Small Island \u003c\/i\u003eand Fox''s \u003ci\u003eWatching the English\u003c\/i\u003e, this intriguing and witty book explains how our national characteristics - our sense of humour, our hobbies, our favourite foods and our behaviour with the opposite sex - are all defined by our nation''s extraordinary geography, geology, climate and weather.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou will learn how we would be as freezing cold as Siberia without the Gulf Stream; why we drive on the left-hand side of the road; why the Midlands became the home of the British curry. It identifies the materials that make England, too: the faint pink Aberdeen granite of kerbstones; that precise English mix of air temperature, smell and light that hits you the moment you touch down at Heathrow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for Harry Mount:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Highly readable, \u003cb\u003eencyclopeadic, marvellous, illuminating\u003c\/b\u003e. Mount portrays England via dextrous excavations of its geography, geology, history and weather''  \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Fascinating. \u003cb\u003eMount''s an intelligent, funny and always interesting companion\u003c\/b\u003e'' \u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Charming and nerdily fact-stuffed\u003c\/b\u003e''  \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHarry Mount is the author of \u003ci\u003eAmo, Amas, Amat and All That\u003c\/i\u003e, his best-selling book on Latin, and \u003ci\u003eA Lust for Window Sills - A Guide to British Buildings\u003c\/i\u003e. A journalist for many newspapers and magazines, he has been a New York correspondent and a leader writer for the \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e. He studied classics and history at Oxford, and architectural history at the Courtauld Institute. He lives in north London\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57318860718462,"sku":"NW9780670919147","price":13.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780670919147.jpg?v=1778652286","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/en-eu\/products\/how-england-made-the-english","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}