1000 Years of Annoying the French

这不是一本正经的历史书，甚至刻意与「史实」保持暧昧距离。作者 Clarke 以「英法之间那点纠缠了几百年的别扭」为线索，专挑那些被大众叙事默认、实则经不起推敲的「常识」开刀：诺曼人算不算法国人、断头台是否源自约克郡、圣女贞德为何因穿裤子被判死刑。读者反复提及的，正是这种「把教科书当玩笑书读」的爽感——有人爆笑、有人第三遍、有人当作旅行良伴随手翻页。但它也引发真实争议：前半程机锋不断，后几十页因同类笑料重复而让人失去耐心。因此它更适合抱着「听一个毒舌英国人吐槽老邻居」的心态翻开的人，而非寻求严谨编年史的读者。它真正提供的，是一段带着偏见与偏爱的文化观察：所谓世仇，底色里其实藏着彼此心照不宣的迷恋。

Stephen Clarke lives in Paris, where he divides his time between writing and not writing. His first novel, A Year in the Merde, originally became a word-of-mouth hit in 2004, and is now published all over the world. Since then he has published three more bestselling Merde novels, as well as Talk to the Snail, an indispensable guide to understanding the French. Research for Stephen's novels has taken him all over France and America. For 1000 Years of Annoying the French, he has also been breathing the chill air of ruined castles and deserted battlefields, leafing through dusty chronicles, brushing up the medieval French he studied at university and generally losing himself in the mists of history. He has now returned to present-day Paris, and is doing his best to live the entente cordiale. For more information about Stephen Clarke and his books, visit his website: www.stephenclarkewriter.com