Book of British Common Sense

Author: Al Murray
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780340952184
Category : Common sense
Languages : en
Pages : 284

Book Description
We live in an age of waffle, mumbo-jumbo and bad thinking. We're forever being fed dodgy information by so-called experts, scientists, opinion-makers, politicians, journalists and jumped-up little graduates. Their combined bad thinking includes: *the idea that no one should win in running races at school, in case the losers get upset *the idea that owning a house in France is a decent way to spend your money *the idea that we should all talk about our feelings and that would make things better *speed cameras *mineral water *hummus *and the fact that everyone reckons they've got asthma. Why do we believe this nonsense? Because, as a nation we've forgotten the basic elements of common sense. Thank God then for Al Murray. Together with the collecting thoughts of hia locals, he's here to put good old-fashioned British common sense back where it belongs.

Al Murray the Pub Landlord Says Think Yourself British

Author: Al Murray
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780340924815
Category : English wit and humor
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Book Description
Al Murray's BOOK OF BRITISH COMMON SENSE helped Great Britain get back on her feet by providing an injection of Common Sense to counteract all the balls and waffle we've been subjected to in this once great nation of ours. Now he's back, and he's turning his attention to You. The Pub Landlord knows that you, like so many others in Broken Britain, need help to Help Yourselves. Which is why he has stepped out from behind the taps once again and written (well, dictated, be reasonable) this Help Yourself book, Think Yourself British. The guiding principle of Helping Yourself is this: in order to take one step forward, we must first take two steps backwards. Because you will only truly know that you are moving forwards if you have first seen what it's like to go backwards. And once you have read Think Yourself British you will undoubtedly become one of the most backwards people you know. Help Yourself to unlock your brainSpace(tm) and increase your brain'sPace* Help Yourself to Health, Nutrition, Dating, Health, Wealth, Success and Happiness. Help Yourself to make an omelette with a fried egg inside it. Help Yourself to Al Murray The Pub Landlord's Think Yourself British (remember to pay for it, though, don't just help yourself). * (tm) applied for. "Genius" The Sun (on The Pub Landlords Book of British Common Sense)

Watching War Films With My Dad

Author: Al Murray
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448150035
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Al Murray's (AKA The Pub Landlord) musing on his childhood where his fascination with history and all things war began. Have you ever watched a film with someone who, at the most dramatic scene, argues that the plane on screen hasn't been invented yet? Or that the tank rumbling towards the hero at the end of the film is the wrong tank altogether? Al Murray is that someone. Try as he might, he can’t help himself. Growing up in the 1970s, Al, with the help of his dad, became fascinated with the history of World War Two. They didn’t go to football; they went to battlefields. Because like so many of his generation whose childhood was all about Airfix, Action Man and Where Eagles Dare, he grew up in the cultural wake of the Second World War. Part memoir, part life obsession, this is Al Murray musing on what he knows best. And he’s sure to tell you things about history that you were never taught at school.

The Laughing Soldier

Author: R. Sheppard
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612000479
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
A witty collection that celebrates the strength to find humor even in the most challenging circumstances—with proceeds benefiting veterans. Britain’s armed forces have a legendary sense of humor, dating back over generations of servicemen and women. The Laughing Soldier, aiding the veterans’ charity Project 65, is a collection of jokes, along with messages of support for the troops, sent in by people all over the world. Contributors include serving personnel, veterans and their families, the general public, celebrities such as Alan Titchmarsh, comedian Milton Jones, and public officials including George Osborne, all inspired by the Armed Forces’ strength and capacity for finding humor in the toughest of situations. With forewords by satirist Al Murray, a.k.a. the Pub Landlord, and ex-marine Mark Ormrod, the Afghanistan hero who lost three limbs to a landmine and bestselling author of Man Down, and illustrated with cartoons by The Comic Stripper, The Laughing Soldier’s collection of jokes will lift the spirits of servicemembers and their families—and those who care about them. A donation is made to Project 65 from the sale of every book.

The Pub Landlord's Great British Pub Quiz Book

Author: Al Murray
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1444715879
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 252

Book Description
Who invented the pub quiz? The British, of course! Who doesn’t enjoy a rousing question-and-answer session over a pint and some scratchings? Indeed, what higher calling is there than standing in the pub loudly demanding answers to difficult questions like ‘d'you want some?’ Here, for your pleasure, Britain’s leading pub landlord, The Pub Landlord, presents the finest collection of facts imaginable. Enjoy the attention of friends and strangers by revealing how many James Bonds there were, how many times the French have capitulated and exactly how long those pickled eggs have been in that jar on the bar. The ladies love a well-read man and this book will give you the tools needed to impress her (don’t worry, answers are included). None of your French-type philosophical musings here. No, this is a proper quiz for the Great British Public. In a public house. Or your living room.

Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain, 1750-1850

Author: Devoney Looser
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801887054
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Book Description
This groundbreaking study explores the later lives and late-life writings of more than two dozen British women authors active during the long eighteenth century. Drawing on biographical materials, literary texts, and reception histories, Devoney Looser finds that far from fading into moribund old age, female literary greats such as Anna Letitia Barbauld, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Catharine Macaulay, Hester Lynch Piozzi, and Jane Porter toiled for decades after they achieved acclaim -- despite seemingly concerted attempts by literary gatekeepers to marginalize their later contributions. Though these remarkable women wrote and published well into old age, Looser sees in their late careers the necessity of choosing among several different paths. These included receding into the background as authors of "classics," adapting to grandmotherly standards of behavior, attempting to reshape masculinized conceptions of aged wisdom, or trying to create entirely new categories for older women writers. In assessing how these writers affected and were affected by the culture in which they lived, and in examining their varied reactions to the prospect of aging, Looser constructs careful portraits of each of her Subjects and explains why many turned toward retrospection in their later works. In illuminating the powerful and often poorly recognized legacy of the British women writers who spurred a marketplace revolution in their earlier years only to find unanticipated barriers to acceptance in later life, Looser opens up new scholarly territory in the burgeoning field of feminist age studies.

The Routledge History of Literature in English

Author: Ronald Carter
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415243179
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 598

Book Description
This is a guide to the main developments in the history of British and Irish literature, charting some of the main features of literary language development and highlighting key language topics.

Communities in Action

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

The Circle

Author: Dave Eggers
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0385351402
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Book Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A bestselling dystopian novel that tackles surveillance, privacy and the frightening intrusions of technology in our lives—a “compulsively readable parable for the 21st century” (Vanity Fair). When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public. What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.

A Patriot's History of the United States

Author: Larry Schweikart
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101217782
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1373

Book Description
For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history.