Everything you ever wanted to know about how other people look at us and how we look at ourselves. Warts and all, we've put together a few thoughts, quotations, writings and sayings, from people of different backgrounds and nationalities.

There is a recurring theme, a common thread that runs through many of them, even though they span the last 1000 years of our history. This will help to show who we are and what has shaped our national character. Hopefully it will also shead a little light on the two sides of the same coin that make up the English identity and show how little it has changed.

Fair play, tolerance and freedom. Over the last millennium all of these qualities have marked us out as a nation and so, in the future, will continue to do so... They also say that we're always pissed, completely arrogant and hate foreigners... Ah well, nobody's perfect!