Clarke, Stephen – The Bell Bookshop

French Revolution & What Went Wrong

Emma — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

An entertaining and eye-opening look at the French Revolution, by Stephen Clarke, author of 1000 Years of Annoying the French and A Year in the Merde.

The French Revolution and What Went Wrong looks back at the French Revolution and how it’s surrounded in a myth. In 1789, almost no one in France wanted to oust the king, let alone guillotine him. But things quickly escalated until there was no turning back.

The French Revolution and What Went Wrong looks at what went wrong and why France would be better off if they had kept their monarchy.

Merde in Europe

Emma — Thu, 05 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

One Brit in Brussels. Two French Women. And a whole lot of merde.
The hilarious new novel from Stephen Clarke, bestselling author of A Year in the Merde and A Thousand Years of Annoying the French.

Does Brussels really want to outlaw bingo, bagpipes and smoky bacon crisps? Are eurocrats trying to rename the English Channel? And can the ink in euro notes really make men impotent?

No. Well, not exactly.

But it is true that the EU is a seriously flawed institution.

And it’s about to become even more so as Englishman Paul West goes to Brussels to work for a French MEP, and gets an insider’s view of what really goes on in the massive madhouse that is the EU Parliament.

As Britain prepares to vote whether it stays in or exits the EU, Paul gets the chance to influence the result of the referendum.

He has to decide: better the devil you know? Or bring on the Brexit?

It’s a decision that could cost him a lot more than his euro paypacket . . .

1000 Years Of Annoying The French

Emma — Thu, 07 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Was the Battle of Hastings a French victory?
Non! William the Conqueror was Norman and hated the French.

Were the Brits really responsible for the death of Joan of Arc?
Non! The French sentenced her to death for wearing trousers.

Was the guillotine a French invention?
Non! It was invented in Yorkshire.

Ten centuries’ worth of French historical ‘facts’ bite the dust as Stephen Clarke looks at what has really been going on since 1066 …

From the Norman (not French) Conquest, to XXX, it is a light-hearted – but impeccably researched – account of all out great-fallings out.

In short, the French are quite right to suspect that the last 1,000 years have been one long British campaign to infuriate them. And it’s not over yet…