Jeremy Paxman

Out of Empire The British empire is long gone. Conventional wisdom has decreed it was A Bad Thing and that there's no more to be said. Darkest night has fallen over the empire on which the sun never set. Or so we like to think. In Out of Empire, Jeremy Paxman examines this belief and finds it wanting. The influence of empire is everywhere, from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything, from Prime Ministers' decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think we're good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; the hopeless losers we will on, and the food we hunger for, the British Empire is never very far away. In this acute and witty analysis, Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers ('intended to weed out the cad, the feeble and the too clever'), the importance of sport, the sweating domestic life of the colonial officer's wife ('the challenge with cooking meat was to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness and putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable ') and the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum, Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy and comedy of Empire and reveals its profound and lasting effect on our nation and ourselves. Подробнее
The English Jeremy Paxman is to many the embodiment of Englishness yet even he is sometimes forced to ask: who or what exactly are the English? And in setting about addressing this most vexing of questions, Paxman discovers answers to a few others. Like: • Why do the English actually enjoy feeling persecuted? • What is behind the English obsession with games? • How did they acquire their odd attitudes to sex and to food? • Where did they get their extraordinary capacity for hypocrisy? Covering history, attitudes to foreigners, sport, stereotypes, language and much, much more, The English brims over with stories and anecdotes that provide a fascinating portrait of a nation and its people. Подробнее
The English This is a brilliantly researched, hugely entertaining study of the English by Britain's best-known broadcaster. In the light of membership of Europe, the loss of an Empire and a devolved United Kingdom, the English no longer know who they are. Covering every aspect of the English identity (from cricket to Cumberland sausages, St George to Bernie Grant, the «Book of Common Prayer to Cool Britannia», John Bull to football thugs) and combining popular history with incisive interviews, Jeremy Paxman provides some fascinating and timely answers. Подробнее
The Political Animal: An Anatomy Jeremy Paxman knows every maneouvre a politician will make to avoid answering a difficult question, but here he seeks an answer to just one: What makes politicians tick? Embarking on a journey in which he encounters movers and shakers past and present, he discovers: • that Prime Ministers have often lost a parent in childhood • why Trollope is the politician’s novelist of choice • that Lloyd George once hunted Jack the Ripper • how an Admiral’s speech in parliament helped win WWII Where do politicians come from? How do they get elected? What do they do all day? And why do they seek power? All these questions and many more are addressed in Paxman’s thrilling dissection of that strange and elusive breed – the political animal. Подробнее
The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Ages Jeremy Paxman's unique portrait of the Victorian world takes readers on an exciting journey through the birth of modern Britain. Using the paintings of the era as a starting point, he tells us stories of urban life, family, faith, industry and empire that helped define the Victorian spirit and imagination. To Paxman, these paintings were the television of their day, and his exploration of Victorian art and society shows how these artists were chronicling a world changing before their eyes. This enthralling history is Paxman at his best — opinionated, informed, witty, surprising — and a glorious reminder of how the Victorians made us who we are today. Подробнее

Книги

Художественная литература

Фантастика

Детектив

Детская литература

Юмор. Комиксы.

Кулинария

Эротика и секс (18+)

Семья