《British History For Dummies Illustrated Edition英国史傻瓜书，插图版》书评

英国史科普

英国人是一个文化概念，而非种族概念，英国的入侵者一波又一波，后来都被叫做英国人有一些话很有意思，抄录如下acid test of democracy is not whether you can vote someone in, but whether you can vote them out民主的酸性测试：不是你能把什么人选上去，而是你能把什么人选下去The crucial fact to know here is that the slave trade made the sugar islands rich, so rich, in fact, that the British seriously considered giving Canada back to the French in return for just one sugar island in the Caribbean.由于奴隶贸易使得糖是如此的赚钱，英国曾经认真考虑过把加拿大还给法国来换一个加勒比的糖岛She got her own back anyway by declaring, on its bicentenary in 1989, that the French Revolution had been a waste of time and blood and the French should have copied the English example instead 撒切尔夫人在1989年直言，法国革命是时间和血的浪费，应该复制英国模式这就是以英国为代表的立宪国家对待革命的看法，至今还有此种论调The Victorians were obsessed with novels and awaited each instalment just like a modern TV audience with the latest soap维多利亚人为小说如此着迷，就像现代人为肥皂剧着迷一样我认为文学就是曾经的娱乐业，还有戏剧，广播，直到后来的电影电视