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The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Xenophobe's Guides)Snagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here!  List Price: £4.99 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £4.74 You Save: £0.25 ( 5%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackEAN: 9781906042332 ISBN: 1906042330 Label: Oval Books Manufacturer: Oval Books Number Of Pages: 96 Publication Date: January 25, 2008 Publisher: Oval Books Studio: Oval Books Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Great book but too short!If only this book were longer. When it arrived I was rather taken aback - just 60 pages? Surely not! What can I learn about the Germans in 60 pages? Quite a lot, as it turns out. This book launches straight in with a very amusing look at the Germans, giving a brief discussion of their history and how the German nation came to be and then detailing many of the quirks and habits of this fascinating nation. The authors give a few ideas how the Germans have been so successful, particularly in terms of literature and music (Goethe, Bach, Kant) but also show some of the angst and problems that the German nature can cause for the people. The authors are both German although I wouldn't know that from their writing which is excellent, funny and seems to understand the Brits very well. They are also very able to poke fun at their own country (although they say this isn't something at which Germans are very adept). With such a short book you can only really get a very brief introduction to German people but it's a very amusing overview and certainly made me think a number of times. We tend to think of the Germans as probably the closest to Brits in terms of personality and nature than other Europeans - this book shows that we might well be wrong in that opinion and it might just help us to understand them more when we visit. Rating: - Most AUSGEZEICHNET!!Oh my.. I'm a brazilian who just moved to London... from GERMANY! where I lived for 15 months.. and after 13, I had a bad week and some friends introduced me to this wonderful master piece, which became our bible! We used to get together in my front yard with beer, snacks and the bible everytime we had problems [...] and used to laugh [...] realizing how true the book is!!! Really.. if you wanna understand the ORDNUNG... read the book! Rating: - Very funny and very accurate - Bill Bryson condensedMy German girlfriend was surprised how accurate this was when I started to read this to her the other day. There are a few points that don't ring true, like the comments about the Trabant car, but mostly it describes the Germany I experience every day very well and in a wonderfully humourous style, whether it is nitpicking about German humour, or praising Goethe. Rating:  - Not entirely factual and very boringVery disappointing.The ideal bedtime book for insomniacs, I couldn't keep awake whilst reading it. Laid out in a ( typical ) German matter-of-fact way, with hardly any lighthearted humour, and what humour the authors did try and instill was over-exaggerated. Indeed some details were quite inaccurate,how, for example, could they say the Germans are a nation of animal lovers when the accepted norm is the cruelty administered in the practice of exercising dogs by lazy owners who simply jump on their bikes and drag the poor animals along at speed, not even allowing the creatures the simple doggy pleasures of cocking a leg or sniffing the faunery. Animal lovers eh, well perhaps the authors see that as another example of "well ordered" German efficiency, and at the same time protecting the precious environment. Rating: - Brilliant balance between British humour and German reality!This book is absolutely hillarious! As a German who lived in London for 2 years, I think I am well qualified to concratulate the authors to their well balanced analysis of the German mind and culture. The combination of British humour and German reality is absolutely perfect - it made a German laugh!  Try searching the Internet for "The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Xenophobe's Guides)" or Ebay for "The Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans (Xenophobe's Guides)". You might also be interested in the following great products:
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