Brief but Bursting with Information!

Britannia in Brief by Leslie Banker and William Mullins is a wonderful guide to all things British -- especially those things which would be highly puzzling to Americans. It is just chock full of information that simply can't be found elsewhere -- or at least, not easily.

The book is divided into chapters covering:

1. So Where Are We Anyway?

2. Society

3. Culture

4. Politics and Government

5. Food and Drink

6. Language

7. The Quotidian

One of the topics that I especially appreciated was a discussion of the myriad of newspapers in Britain, who owns them, and their political history and current leanings. Unfortunately, the free newspapers that are constantly being proffered weren't included, but it's a huge help to have some order applied to the perplexing list of options.

There is also an extremely informative section on cricket, football and rugby (who knew there were two different types??!). As incomprehensible as cricket is to an unenlightened American, it is still somewhat amazing to learn that some "test matches" can last for a total of 25 days. No wonder it's never caught on in America, what with our national attention deficit disorder and all . . .

Also of great usefulness is an "offensiveness scale" rating of various British swear words. A word that seems funny to an American might get you slapped or thrown out of a pub if bandied about lightly among British people.

I was also surprised at the number of holidays taken in Britain: two public holidays and six "bank holidays." The public holidays, not surprisingly, are Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Some of the others fall near holidays (Good Friday and Boxing Day), but others seem to have no rhyme or reason (Summer Bank Holiday). The U.S., of course, has quite a few federal holidays, with a confusing mix of what types of businesses are open or closed. [As an aside, Sweden has tons of holidays that have religious significance, but when you ask a Swedish person why such and such a day is a holiday, you often get a vague response ("Kristi himmelsfärds dag" being one).] So it was something of a surprise to realize that the British holidays generally aren't in commemoration of any person or event, just an opportunity to give workers some time off. I'm all for that, but surely there have been enough battle victories, national heroes and notable people to have some dedication and celebrations. Then again, those Brits put living people on their postage stamps, so what can you expect!

There's also a wonderful section explaining the British educational system, including the confusing GCSE system. It was somewhat alarming to learn that a passing grade on the GCSE exam is 50%, and that "Princess Diana failed all her GCSEs." Hmm . . .

Each section ends with a useful FAQ section, containing answers to common misconceptions or questions which might be confusing. There is also a listing of UK Acronyms and a glossary at the back of the book, as well as a quiz to test what you've learned. All in all, the book is an outstanding source of information and interesting facts.

Final Verdict for Britannia in Brief: Five Gherkins, for being a wonderful collection of useful information