Great British Wit

Nov 14, 2024 6:35 PM

Author:Rosemarie Jarski

Great British Wit

There's nothing much left to feel good about these days if you're British, but one of the few things where we all agree that we're still a world leader is our defining sense of humour. Thematically covering every subject imaginable, from God to dogs, this collection is the seminal gathering of our national wit and a picture of who we are as a nation - a monument to our monumental silliness.

'An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one.' George Mikes

Jane Austen, Jo Brand, Craig Brown, Winston Churchill, Alan Clark, Jeremy Clarkson, Billy Connolly, Peter Cook, Tommy Cooper, Stephen Fry, A.A. Gill, Boris Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Maureen Lipman, Spike Milligan, Eric Morecambe, William Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, Frank Skinner, Sue Townsend, Peter Ustinov, Queen Victoria, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, Victoria Wood and many more.

Reviews

A veritable monument to our self-effacing approach

—— Goodtimes

An outstanding up-to-date anthology

—— Sunday Times

400 pages of the funniest one-liners ever uttered by Brits about Brits...This is one of those clever books you'll pick up intent on having a quick browse and before you know it, it's dark outside, there's a black dot on the TV and you haven't spoken to another soul for 10 hours.

—— Scottish Daily Record

Alec Ross is a keen analyst and brilliant storyteller. The Raging 2020s introduces us to the people whose lives are blighted by unconscionable policies and concentrations of power, helping us understand and indeed share the rage that fuels many 21st century political movements. Best of all, Ross is willing to speak truth to power in recommending a set of bold but realistic solutions.

—— Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America, and Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

A gripping, illuminating chronicle that provides a wonderful birds-eye view from the heights of government and international business, that solidifies Ross's position among the most visionary of global thinkers on the future of technology and its implications, and that also is an amazingly enjoyable, page-turning read!

—— General David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA and former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan

The future is already hitting us, and Ross shows how it can be exciting rather than frightening.

—— Walter Isaacson on INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE

Anyone who wants to understand the key forces that are shaping our economic, political, and social futures will benefit hugely from Ross's insights.

—— Reid Hoffman, Founder & Chairman, LinkedIn, author of MASTERS OF SCALE, on INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE

In a world growing more chaotic, Alec Ross is one of those very rare people who can see patterns in the chaos and provide guidance for the road forward.

—— Eric Schmidt, Former CEO of Google and author of THE NEW DIGITAL AGE, on INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE

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