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Posted on 10/15/2011 10:04:59 PM PDT by Cronos
here are my points of why the Brits didn't take the brunt of the attacks in WWI:
yes, the Brits fought alongside the French but at the start they were a small force -- all professional but tiny in numbers compared to the conscript armies of the Germans and French
I'm not belittling British bravery in WWI but stand by my statement that they not face the brunt of attacks -- they fought to help the French on French/Belgian soil.
This was borne out by the total deaths --> the British lost 1 million people - 2.2% of the population, the French lost 1.7 million, 4.3% of the population, even the Italians lost more in numbers and %.
if we take civilian misery, the Brits may have had rations, and the French had the misery of war in the north-east but Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine had 3 armies fighting on their lands, the lands were exchanged nearly a dozen times over 5 years and even after 1918, there was war for 3 more years with the Soviets, Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarussians, Slovaks, Czechs, etc. etc. all fighting each other.
Brighton Rock is good enough, but over-hyped. The best place to get this is in a small shop near Seven Dials, can’t remember the name
Why would you be ashamed -- I loved those books. Nice, gentle stories. I still re-read the copy of Wind in the Willows I got when I was 7
Surprisingly, I didn’t experience the famous French rudeness, but then I could speak French pretty well at that time. The French are pleased if someone makes the effort to even speak broken French. After you say a few words, you can switch to English and they’ll speak it too.
Not really. Only the French, Spanish and to a lesser extent the Germans looked at the English in that way
On the contrary, the Portuguese and the Italians have been close friends to the English, the Portuguese have an alliance with the English since the 1200s and the upper-class Italians before WWII were Anglo-philes (which incidently, along with the fact that the lower classes were strongly pro-American explains why the Italians didn't really have any heart in fighting -- especially since they really didn't like the Germans (remembering Austrian occupation), they only didn't like the French (as the French took Marseilles from them in 1870))
The Poles were Anglophiles from the 1800s onwards (and Francophiles earlier when they thought Napoleon would help them regain their independence after the Partitions)
The Russians were also quite pro-English.
What you are describing is what we in the Anglo-Saxon world think, whereas in reality "the continent" that we think of is really just "France" -- the French and English have been blood-brothers fighting for 1000 years.
Cowboys, hicks, barbarians... uncouth... while generically speaking, the opposite is more likely to be true. -- strictly speaking about the Brits versus the Western Europeans, TODAY the Brits of TODAY are uncouth compared to the French or Germans (which says a lot as the French/Germans of today aren't great). imho the Brits during the 1800s and until the 1960s were the opposite -- they thought the continent was uncouth in comparison and to a large extent they were correct.
Not so much righteous as pomposity. Let's take the example of the Brits in India in the 1800s and then in the 1850s. in the 1800s they were well-liked and they saw the Indians as equals, hence their empire grew. however, the idea of British-Israelism grew and the despise of the wog grew and in a way led to the 1857 rebellion.
Pomposity -- Pride, the vice that is the most pervasive.
I’ve never experienced French rudeness either but I only started travelling there in the last 20 years. Others tell me that in its more formal days (prior to the 70s), they were more difficult. And they truly respect you if you make an effort to speak the language (no matter how badly) and have some praise for their country. I actually was kissed by a cab driver for swooning over the beauty of Paris during a long cab ride. My husband was embraced in a Parisian cd shop for buying up the music of Charles Trenet! He’s banned from playing that thing in the house, though.
Well, I suppose, because they are not very intellectual. But he was a natural-born story teller and I really respect that gift - lost in all modern novels, it seems.
My favorite Anglophile book is “Lark Rise to Candleford” - the story of Flora Thomson’s childhood in rural Oxford during the 1880s. An unbelieveably beautiful book.
nah, he was a lot more intellectual than the “thriller” list at the bookstore. plus, one needs a break from Neil Postman!
You bring up Neil Postman. How interesting. When I audited classes at NYU in the 70s, he taught there. He was quite interesting and nice. He taught media.
That’s “Thompson,” with a P, for those of you using your online library catalog to request. (Wait-listed: I’m #4.)
I never need a break from Neil Postman, although if I did, there’s Clive Cussler.
Taxie-babe, you are going to LOVE this book, even if I don’t know how to spell its fine author’s name. I was too damn lazy to walk over to the bookcase. Please keep me updated about this. There is a modern British tv version of this which you may enjoy. I didn’t because I had seen the amazing National Theatre production of this book back in the 1970s. It’s the reason I sought out the book.
You must love the Miss Read series. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century.
This article is crap....
there are all kinds of people in every land...
Moral ones, and rude Pricks...
Liberals and conservatives....
Patriots and Traitors...
Smart ones and Idiots....
In England the left have screwed it up...but the Voters put them in Power...so they are Gullible and stupid.
In France they have a flood of Muslims on welfare and the recent Riots where hundreds of Cars burned as the Frog Police watched...Gigantic Stupidity!!!
The French are so proud of their culture...what a Laugh...it wont be long and they will reap the storm of
foreign culture shock and adieu! stupid Frogs...
and so goes the Limey morons too....
Sadly, We here will soon follow these 2 idiot Nations down the toilet.
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Well your post certainly proves the spirit of the article.
Boor.
The BBC program (2008) is available on DVD from Netflix. I can always request it if I get tired of waiting for the book! There are two copies of the book (illustrated) in active circulation in the Mecklenburg County system, so maybe it won’t be too long.
I’m #71 on the list for Dick Cheney’s book ;-).
Thank you. It’s all sad but true.
Thank you. It’s all sad but true.
really? you’ve met him!? Wow! The wife and I are big fans of his books — they are incredibly well-thought out and detailed.
Yes, I audited a class with him back at NYU around 1977. Looooong time ago. My friend Laurie and I would go every week. Those were still the days when college education was free from cant and political correctness. I remember him being a very good teacher and a nice man.
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