1000 Years of Annoying the French

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This was a humorous and yet seriously edifying romp through Anglo-Gallic relations from the time of the conquest until a few years ago. On the other hand, I am French, and I have discovered at my expense that this book does exactly what it says on the cover: it annoyed me. He also takes the air out of overblown Gallic claims, challenging the provenance of everything from champagne to the guillotine to prove that the French would be nowhere without British ingenuity. This book should be required reading for anyone who wants a better understanding of the history that exists between England and France - and essential for anyone who collects fascinating trivia. With such an amazing portrayal of French hypocrisy and silliness I think “1,000 Years” would fit nicely on the book shelves of Francophobes.

1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke - Goodreads 1000 Years of Annoying the French by Stephen Clarke - Goodreads

Amongst all the good natured ribbing, Stephen Clarke gives an interesting history lesson on these two countries peppered with anecdotes and trivia.

Edith Piaf and Coco Chanel: both were pro Nazi (to add to the fun, on page 448 the Wehrmacht troops are depicted whistling “Non Rien de Rien”, a song that has only been written in 1960 by Charles Dumont.

1000 Years of Annoying the French (Paperback) - Waterstones

Combined with Clarke’s hilarious writing I would gladly advise it to anybody who wants to have an amusing look on the interaction between two European powers. You have to hand it to the Scottish government: the deletion of WhatsApp messages is good preemptive news management, whether accidental, by default or deliberate. Beginning with William the Conqueror (not French) and ending with Nicolas Sarkozy (French), Clarke covers a fair bit of ground including food, battles, trade, battles, Canada, battles, wine, battles, Voltaire, battles, the French Revolution and battles.I ask my colleagues to consider urgently whether we should not now eliminate de Gaulle as a political force. Having read Stephen Clarke's 'A Year In The Merde' before this, my experience of reading this one was a quite welcome and pleasant subversion of my expectations - and I do have a penchant for the latter as well. At times the book suffers from this kind of reasoning, but these are rather spots on a further well-investigated book.

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It's to be hoped he's written a similar book from a French perspective, given that he now lives and works in Paris! became famous doing Elvis’s dance moves while singing a bizarre mix of rock’n’roll and French crooning. After all those "Merde" (Paul West) novels in which Stephen Clarke showed a deep knowledge of the French psyche, but also of all those national clichés, I was expecting a little more from this jocular history of the mutual dislike between the two neighboring nations.the French military trained British secret services in how to disable Exocets and 3) they loaned our military several aircraft to learn how to work against them. A bonus is that the humor is on point most of the times which by itself this saves the book in many cases. His non-fiction books include Talk to the Snail, an insider's guide to understanding the French; How the French Won Waterloo (or Think They Did), an amused look at France's continuing obsession with Napoleon; Dirty Bertie: An English King Made in France, a biography of Edward VII; and 1000 Years of Annoying the French, which was a number one bestseller in Britain. Why do only 1 per cent of those who study law succeed in joining this mysteriously opaque profession?

1000 Years of Annoying the French: Stephen Clarke

One of the most frequent questions I get when doing readings and talks is: why is there such a love-hate relationship between the French and the Brits? Matter of fact, I already gave it to his companion a minute before, but probable miscommunication (which is rather a French condition if I follow this book) made the man scream words that I couldn't understand (though I guess they had to do with cheese, wine and misplaced chauvinism). W zasadzie autor bierze "pod pióro" każdą niemal francuską świętość i wykazuje, że zawdzięczają ją Brytyjczykom lub że nie mają racji chełpiąc się swoją przewagą.

You don’t have to be a Brit or an Anglophile or even a Francophobe to appreciate this book but it helps. Not surprisingly, these aspects are key in establishing the book's unique charm - un très bon read, overall!