Reviews

"A writer of apparently limitless learning and intelligence, who writes works of scholarship masquerading as popular narrative non-fiction, he somehow manages to combine what must be marathon stints at the library with a full-time day and night-job as theatre critic of the London Evening Standard. He files a review most days and knocks out a summa every couple of years: the man is something else."

Ian Sansom, Guardian

"In this highly entertaining and absorbing book, Henry Hitchings guides us through the story of how Englishness became so strongly associated with knowing how to behave decorously... The real delight of this book is its lightly worn scholarliness."

Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph

"Sorry! swoops high and low, from Pepys to Locke and from Seinfeld to Jilly Cooper. Hitchings is an able anthropologist."

John O'Connell, The Times

"A bold, entertaining, and often imaginative assault on a fundamentally impossible subject."

Robert McCrum, Observer

"Fascinating and lightly erudite."

Ed Smith, New Statesman

"He is a lovely writer."

Marcus Berkmann, Daily Mail