"Every book tells a story..." And the 70 titles in the Pocket Penguins series are emblematic of the renowned breadth and quality that formed part of the original Penguin vision in 1935 and that continue to define our publishing today. Together, they tell one version of the unique story of Penguin Books.

I bought this book at amazon because of its title. Well, "In Defence of English Cooking" is just one of the four essays in this very slim volume. The others are: "My Country Right or Left", "Notes on Nationalism" and "The Prevention of Literature".
Not only was George Orwell one of the greatest writers and most important political thinkers of the twentieth century, he is also the author of the bestselling Penguin title of all time: "Animal Farm". (...)
These heartfelt essays demonstrate Orwell's broad appeal, and range from political manifesto to affectionate consideration of what being English truly means.

I read this little book for the Reduce Mount TBR-Challenge - and it was quite hard, especially the second essay "Notes on Nationalism". Unfortunately I couldn't find out when this essay was written, I think during or shortly after WW II. If you don't have a vast knowledge of history and politics and don't know exactly what terms like Trotskyism, Political Catholicism or British Tory mean, it's quite hard to read - and that's why it took me nearly a week to read 27 small pages! To be honest, I didn't try to find out more about it.

The essay "In Defence of English Cooking" was quite true though!

This thin book is now available or will be released soon.

Edit 09.04.12:
"...or will be released soon."
Well, it was not so soon. I had completely forgotten about this little book and now it gets its chance to see the world and will travel with me to the Bookcrossing Convention in Dublin!

during the BC Convention - on a book table?

The title was intriguing, the size perfect for slipping into my suitcase, so I picked this one off the book buffet table at the Dublin convention.

Thanks for bringing it, DEESSE!