The new edition of the Rough Guide to England accuses the English of being quarrelsome, contradictory and "obsessed with toffs and C-list celebrities". But it also says England is "also a country of animal-loving, tea-drinking, charity donors, where queuing remains a national pastime and bastions of civilisation, like Radio 4, are jealously protected".

It is described as deeply conservative yet having "a richly multi-ethnic culture" and where "warmth is in the humour, a sort of national solidarity that is bred in the bone". The guide concludes: "Of the 200-plus destinations across the world that Rough Guides covers, there is none so fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse, yet as insular, self-important and irritating, as England."

The warts-and-all assessment by the £15.99 guide, which is published around the world, was taken in good part by the tourism body, Visit Britain. "Our sense of humour is one of the many reasons, along with heritage and culture, that people come here."

The guide lampoons the national obsession with the weather, saying: "A two-day cold snap is discussed as if it were the onset of a new Ice Age and a week above 25 degrees starts rumours of a drought." It also highlights contradictions, pointing out: "It's a nation that prides itself on its patriotism - yet has a Scottish prime minister, an Italian football coach and a Greek royal consort."  The English are "the most contradictory people imaginable", the book says, adding: "However long you spend in the country you'll never figure them out".

How dare they!

The original was here.