British Books | Anglotopia

Anglophile Guide to Ordering From Amazon UK – Ordering From the USA

June 2, 2010 By jonathan 3 Comments

It’s no secret that the Brits get a lot of great stuff before we do in the USA (and it’s true in the reverse as well). Thanks to the wonders of the internet though, if you’re willing to pay a little more, you can get any book, CD or DVD that has come out in the UK via Amazon UK.

I’ve generally avoided this as I thought it was cost prohibitive, but I recently discovered that’s it’s actually not that bad as far a pricing goes. Especially since the US/Pound Conversion rate is down to $1.45 – the lowest it has been in years!

Bill Bryson has a new book our called At Home – he’s one of my favorite authors and I was excited to learn he had a new book coming out. The only problem is that it’s not coming out in the USA until October! It was released last week in the UK. I’m a fan of audiobooks, so I set out to buy the audio version of At Home to listen to on my commute. I ended up buying more than that and this is what I learned.

Prices are comparable to the US prices – but you are still paying a premium when you factor in shipping.
Those who order in the USA are exempt from VAT (sales tax), they don’t tell you that until you checkout. You can actually subtract 17.5% from the price of anything at Amazon UK and that will be the price that you pay. They’ll give you the final price at Checkout.
Shipping is pretty reasonable – I paid about $25 for shipping and I’ll get the items sometime next week. This is a lot to pay for shipping but I bought 5 items, none of which are available in the USA so it’s worth it to me.
Amazon UK will actually let you place your order in US Dollars – they’ll convert everything from Pounds to Dollars – this will save you extra fees on your credit card (who will charge for conversion) and you’ll get a better conversion rate.
I would not recommend buying UK DVD’s unless you have a Region Free DVD player or know how region coding works. However, if you can play UK DVD’s, then you’ll find a lot of UK TV shows are MUCH cheaper even with the added cost of shipping.
Some books are dirt cheap! I picked up two books that cost only £4 a piece! A hardcover of Bill Bryson’s At Home was only £9! I got a little carried away and bought more than I should have!

I can’t wait to get my new items – I’ll have a review of Bryson’s new book once I’ve had a chance to listen to it. There may be other sources for Books, CD’s and DVD’s from the UK – please let us know about them in the comments!

Happy Shopping!

Filed Under: Anglophile Gear, British Books, British Products Tagged With: amazon uk, Bill Bryson

Details on Bill Bryson’s Latest Book: At Home – Interviews, Videos and Excerpts Inside

May 31, 2010 By jonathan Leave a Comment

Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. I admire him greatly as he is pretty much living the Anglophile dream. He’s made a life for himself in the UK, becoming one of their most treasured writers. It’s been a couple years since his last book – but he’s been working on At Home, which was just released last week in the UK (it comes out in the USA this fall).

At Home is about the home. Starting in his old Rectory in Norfolk, England, Bryson goes through every room in the home charting the unknown and interesting history of everything in our homes.

He’s been making the publicity rounds and there’s a lot of links to there.

Bill Bryson: The secret life of your home – From the Guardian, this is a summary with excerpts from his new book.

Bill Bryson: the history of the toilet – Another Excerpt From the Guardian about the history of the Toilet.

Bill Bryson: The story of the electric light – Another Excerpt from the Guardian, this time about the history of the lightbulb.

At Home – Audio Extract and Interview - The Sunday Times have an excerpt from the Audio version of At Home and they also have a great interview with Bryson. You have to register for a free account (free for 30 days) to the Times to view it, unfortunately.

Video Interview Hay Festival – Bryson made an appearance at the Hay Literary Festival this past weekend and was interviewed about the prospect of taking British Citizenship. You can view a clip of it here. Also, in this writeup – he lets us all know that he will be rooting for England in the World Cup, not the USA.

Here’s a cute trailer for At Home:

You can buy At Home Now from Amazon UK or you can wait until the fall when it will be released in the USA on October 5th 2010.

Filed Under: Anglophile Gear, Anglophilia, British Books, British Literature Tagged With: at home, Bill Bryson

Anglophile Reviews: Tottering-By-Gently English Aristocratic Comic

May 14, 2010 By jackie Leave a Comment

The fabulous cartoon strip from Country Life Magazine (our favorite British Magazine!), The Totterings, has been made into a book. Anglotopia recently received a book entitled Out and About with the Totterings from the comic strip Tottering By Gently. This delightful book by Annie Tempest offers a humorous look in to the wealthy Tottering family.

The family is comprised of; Lord Tottering “Dickey,” Lady Tottering “Daffy,” and their children, Selena, Freddy, and Daisy. They also have a lovable black Labradors name Slobber and Scribble. They live in a large country house and have all of the charms and quirks that one would expect. The illustrations in this little gem are absolutely charming. The book chronicles the lives of daily life on the estate.

Some of my favorite cartoons are with Lady Tottering, indulging in chocolate, wine or a lovely bubble bath. There is something very relatable with her character. I especially enjoyed the cartoons with their lovable labradors. Annie Tempest, gives such accurate personality to the labradors in this book, that as a labrador owner, I found myself laughing out loud while reading. As a matter of fact I often found myself laughing out loud while reading this book.

This book makes a wonderful addition to my coffee table. I like that this book, portrays life on an English estate in such a charming way. We have had guests pull the book off the table and laugh at the cartoons as well. This book would make a wonderful gift for the consummate anglophile. Annie Tempest has done a wonderful job of illustrating the quirkiness and charm of the Totterings.

The Totterings are quintessentially English and this book is a must have for the Anglophile out there who’d like an insight in the upper class fantasy lifestyles of the English Aristocracy. The cartoons harkens back to simpler, less complicated days and they are always a delight to read. If you enjoyed Brideshead Revisited (in all its incarnations) then you’ll love Out and About With the Totterings!

Filed Under: Anglophile Reviews, British Books, British Products, Humor Tagged With: annie tempest, tottering by gently

Anglophile Reviews: Admit One – My Life in Film by Emmett James

March 18, 2010 By jonathan Leave a Comment

This was a lovely little book. Not only am I a rabid Anglophile, but I’m also a movie buff. So, I’m all for a book that combines both.

Admit One by Emmett James is the story of the Hollywood dreams of a British guy from Croydon in London who sets out for Hollywood to make his way in the film industry. We learn all about his training as an actor and all the odd jobs he did to make a living in Hollywood.

Throughout the book, we follow Emmett on his various trials and tribulations in the land of sun and movies and at turns, it’s sad, inspiring and heartwarming even when you get a little lost in negativity.

The book is built around the narrative of his favorite movies- which include many blockbusters from the golden era of the blockbuster – the early 1980′s. He manages to frame his own story well as classic movies such as Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, ET etc hit the scene of 1980′s American Cinema.

Most amusing of all are his tales of getting into the Academy Awards – even when he didn’t have a reason to actually be there! Very amusing!

The book is written with a particular British wit and brutal honesty that is always welcome when it comes to reading memoirs and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Emmet James Hollywood journey. I hope we see more excellent writing from Emmet James.

I give it 5 out of 5 Stars!

Filed Under: Anglophile Reviews, British Books Tagged With: emmet james

Anglophile Reviews: Secret London – Exploring the Hidden City

March 2, 2010 By jonathan Leave a Comment

Secret London

This is the coolest book about London, ever.

I don’t say that lightly!

London is over 2,000 years old and because of it’s age it’s hiding many hidden secrets and strange traditions that date back thousands of years. And Secret London by Andrew Duncan is your guide to it all.

Many Anglophiles are probably familiar with Andrew Duncan’s work – he writes excellent London walking guides. This book is a little different, while it does have a few walks and the secrets they contain, it’s also filled with pages of information on places in London with secrets.

One thing I love about London is that it has many strange anachromisms that continue to this day. For example, did you know that central London is mostly owned by a few dozen families who have held the land for hundreds of years? Well, Secret London lifts the lid on London’s shy landowners and tells you which estates and neighborhoods are owned by whom. It’s absolutely fascinating.

Another interesting section of the book is a secret tour of all the government buildings and the secrets that they contain. Hidden tunnels, ancient rooms, strange traditions – it’s all there. By far my favorite part was the chapter on the Palace of Westminster. Did you know that it’s an exlusive city within a city with restaurants, shops, barbers and private clubs only for members of parliament?

Speaking of clubs, Andrew Duncan also takes you on a tour of the super secret gentleman’s clubs of St. James. He also has quite a bit dedicated to the mysterious livery companies that run the City of London. The book isn’t much of a tourist guide – because you can’t actually go to most of the places mentioned – but it’s great fun learning all about them!

If you’re into history, secrets and strange British traditions, then this book is for you. I cannot recommend it more. It’s well worth the money!

I give it 5 out of 5 stars!

Filed Under: Anglophile Reviews, British Books, London, Travel Tagged With: secret london