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Description of  England: A Class of Its Own: An Outsider's View

For years German lawyer and author Detlev Piltz has been observing England, its life, customs and above all its classes. He argues that whenever an English person meets another, they will immediately try and place the individual they are talking to in a class by their speech, deportment, clothing, address and general aura. Why might this be, and does the English class system still exist in the twenty-first century? This book argues that it is very much still alive. Piltz examines the 'hard' and 'soft' class markers that permeate English society, from where Britons go on holiday to what they wear, eat, drive and what they name their pets. He explains how the way you pronounce the word 'garage' indicates your class, and asks whether it makes sense still to talk of the English Gentleman, a species of human being so often admired in continental Europe yet parodied and satirized ad infinitum. Read more