"The Notebooks of Major Thompson: an Englishman discovers France and the French" a witty, tongue-in-cheek account of an Englishman trying to adapt to life in France with a French wife. Written not by Major Thompson himself, but by a Frenchman, Pierre Daninos.
If you want to succeed here you must be able to handle the English sense of humour. So proclaims George Mikes' timeless exploration of this curious phenomenon. Whether it's understatement, self-deprecation or plain cruelty, the three elements he identifies as essential to our sense of humour, being witty here is a way of life. Perfectly placed as an adopted Englishman himself, Mikes delivers his shrewd advice - helpfully divided into 'Theory' and 'Practice' - with a comic precision that does his chosen country proud. Drawing on a trove of examples from our rich comic canon, from Orwell (Every joke is a tiny revolution) to Oscar Wilde, this is the essential handbook for natives and foreigners alike. Mrs Kennedy: I don't think, Mr Churchill, that I have told you anything about my grandchildren. Winston Churchill: For which, madam, I am infinitely grateful
La cultura del Renacimiento en Italia, del eminente historiador suizo Jacob Burckhardt, tiene todo el renombre de una auténtica obra clásica. Cuando apareció en 1960, resultó revolucionaria: nunca se había intentado una descripción tan completa de una época de nuestra civilización. Posteriormente se han escrito trabajos de mayor extensión, pero no ha sido posible superar la profunda visión de este autor.
