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Subtitle: The English and their manners
By: Henry Hitchings
Edition: First American edition.
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 392
ISBN-13: 9780374266752
Subjects: Etiquette; Manners and customs; Social life and customs
Description: Journalist and theater critic Hitchings (The Language Wars) takes up the curious study of proper English behavior in his latest book. Manners matter to the English, yet the Daily Mail reported a study in 2008 "claiming that bad manners were the biggest problem facing society." Part social history, part cultural critique, the book moves humorously from the ancient to the modern with pithy anecdotes and amusing factoids. In the medieval court of Henry II, "One shouldn't attack an enemy while he is defecating, should avoid sharing secrets with one's wife, and ought to look towards the ceiling when belching." As the author notes, "people have been talking about modern manners' since the 18th century, " and the discussion continues. The tour of manners encompasses living conditions, language, social structures, innovations, and philosophy throughout centuries. This is not a book of etiquette instruction, but deconstruction.
Notes: Originally published: Great Britain: John Murray (Publishers), 2013.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-378) and index.
Table of contents: title: The stars' tennis balls : or, A short introduction from an unusual angle; title: "I'ma get medieval on yo ass' : manners in the age of chivalry; title: Lubricants and filters : 'a kind of lesser morality'; title: Godspeed, babe : or, Meetings and greetings; title: Of courtiers and codpieces : fashioning Renaissance identity; title: But who was the Renaissance man?; title: Table manners : or, How to eat a cobra's heart; title: The Clothes Show : 'When in doubt, opt for navy'; title: Mr Sex; title: Not Mr Sex : when 'coffee' doesn't mean coffee; title: The elephant and the bad baby : the everyday language of manners; title: Spectators and stratagems : the polite, commercial eighteenth century; title: Lord Chesterfield and the invention of etiquette; title: Letters and social change : Jane Austen and Fanny Burney; title: The Englishness of English manners; title: Island Man and his discontents : 'They do things differently there'; title: Fanny Trollope and the domestic manners of Americans; title: 'You're the most important person!' : the trouble with children; title: What were Victorian values?; title: Curb your enthusiasm : new ways for new times; title: Creative hubs and 'extreme phenomena' : negotiating the modern city; title: Location, location, location : the rules of place; title: A fluid world : or, 'Are you suggesting that I should call you Eric?'; title: Technology and the revenge effect; title: 'Are we there yet?' : manners now.