They Made Great Britain

Adrian Sykes,Adrian Sykes

ISBN 10: 0956238734 / ISBN 13: 9780956238733

Editore: Adelphi Publishers, 1873

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Titolo: They Made Great Britain

Casa editrice: Adelphi Publishers

Data di pubblicazione: 1873

Legatura: Brossura

Condizione: Very Good

Condizione sovraccoperta: 46533752

autografato: 2/28/2025 1:25:11 PM

Edizione: 1740749111.

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Riassunto:

From the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago) to the death of Winston Churchill in 1965, Adrian Sykes narrates the history and achievements of these islands,their inhabitants and their origins,through the stories of some 3000+ men & women who have shaped not just our history but the modern world. The story is interspersed with countless inventions, deeds of daring do and wickednesses, as well as the origins of innumerable words and phrases,often surprisingly early.

From Nosey Parker - Elizabeth I of her Archbishop of Canterbury,to mayonnaise - the battle of Mahon,which the victorious French admiral celebrated by inventing mayonnaise and after which we hanged Admiral Byng who lost it "to encourage the others",as Voltaire put it. Sykes astonishes on every page, whether with the origin of everyday phrases or nursery rhymes or the countless inventions of the British, from the lead pencil (1568), the tin can, the bicycle, screw propeller and jet engine to DNA, LCD crystals, cement, the electric kettle, the vacuum cleaner and Marmite.
Beautifully illustrated and with maps of exceptional clarity,this is a book hard to put down in which you learn something very surprising on every page.

Recensione:

"A splendidly informative & entertaining guide to a dazzling cast of great Britons whom everybody in this island should recognise & celebrate, yet in these days often does not" (Max Hastings)

"This is an unforgettable book, with a new idea on every page" (Paul Johnson)

"A real treasure trove - an erudite, essential, original & thoroughly entertaining collection of stories, facts & characters that everyone should know about British history" (Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Jerusalem: the biography)