An Italian in Britain

Italians, writes Beppe Severgnini, arrive in Britain full of preconceptions: the English are reserved, they love tradition, they like to read and they hate to bathe. Over the course of a few days they discover that everything they thought is true. This discovery generates such euphoria that they fo no further. But England and the English deserve to be examined in depth and Mr. Severgnini goes on to explore this mysterious island with irony and verve. He describes how the English dress, what they eat, how much they drink, and why they are so obsessed with a certain wallpaper. It may not be a tourist guide, but any tourist will find all kinds of suggestions, explanations and information about the country. This book irreverently explores a sampling of British eccentricities as the mystery of the sinks with separate hot and cold taps, the secret of the millions of girls who go bare-legged in the middle of winter and can't say why and much more.