How To Be A Brit: Includes The Classic Bestseller How To Be An Alien

The hilariously accurate, witty and indispensable manual for everyone who longs to attain True Britishness

‘‘Got me in tears of laughter’’ 5***** Reader Review
‘‘Laugh-out-loud hilarious, witty and insightful’’ 5***** Reader Review


Born in Hungary, George Mikes eventually spent more than forty years in the Britain observing behaviours and misbehaviours of local and foreign Brits.

With essential chapters such as “How to Avoid Travelling”, “On Shopping”, “In Praise of Television”, “On Not Complaining” and “How to Panic Quietly”, you’’ll get to know Britain like never before.

Loved by readers and authors alike, How to Be a Brit contains Mikes’’s three major works – How to be an Alien, How to be Inimitable and How to be Decadent.

If you’’re British, you’’ll love it; if you’’re a foreigner, you’’ll appreciate it.

Queuing: “An Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue of one."

How to plan a town: “Street names should be painted clearly and distinctly on large boards. Then hide these boards carefully."

Sex: “Continental people have sex lives: the English have hot water bottles."

George Mikes’’s perceptive bestseller provides a complete guide to the British Way of Life.


‘‘Hilarious and informative essays about the British way of life’’ 5***** Reader Review

‘‘So many people have tried to describe the English mentality . . . This book is as near as you can get!’’ 5***** Reader Review