The British - Who Are They? (0)

The British – Who are they?
The British are world famous on almost all walks of life. Their culture is rich and varied.
Theatre
The British have a tradition of theatre. Long, long time ago the culture of theatre was introduced from Europe to the British by the Romans . Many auditoriums were constructed across the country . The most famous British playwright is obviously William Shakespeare . He lived from 1564 to 1616 . During that time he wrote about 40 plays , which are still played and used in today ’s theatre. His plays are performed more often than those of any other playwright. The first professional woman playwright was Aphra Behn. Nowadays there are not so many world famous dramatists in England but the memory of William Shakespeare and many others has preserved until today. Important modern playwrights include Alan Ayckbourn, John Osborne , Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard , and Arnold Wesker.
Music
Many British music composers have made major contributions to world’s music, and are known internationally. They also have many orchestras including BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia etc.
The British were one of the two main nations in the development of rock and roll along with the Americans, and they have provided many bands. The best known of these bands are The Beatles , the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin , Queen , Iron Maiden, the Sex Pistols and many more.
British music has been very influential abroad.
Sports
The British are fond of sports.
The national sport of the UK is football , having originated in England, and the British have the oldest football clubs in the world. The first ever international soccer game was between Scotland and England in 1872. The match ended with a goalless draw .
The British have been world champions notably only once. That was in 1966 when they won a victory over Germany .
There are many others famous British sport competitions, which include the ashes series of cricket matches, The Wimbledon tennis championships, the Grand National etc.
A great number of major sports originated in the United Kingdom, including: soccer, squash, golf, tennis, boxing, rugby, cricket, snooker , billiards, badminton and curling .
Literature
English literature emerged as a recognisable entity in the late 14th century .
Geoffrey Chaucer is the first great identifiable individual in English literature: his Canterbury Tales remains a popular 14th-century work , which readers still enjoy today.
The English novel became a popular form in the 18th century, with Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe , which was written in 1719. The English novel developed in the 20th century into much greater variety. It remains today the dominant English literary form. There are many novelists whose novels are enjoyed all over the world: J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling , Arthur Conan Doyle, D.H. Lawrence etc.
Food
The British cuisine is mainly shaped by England’s climate
The Sunday roast is probably the most traditional feature of English cooking. The Sunday dinner commonly includes roast potatoes with a roasted joint of meat such as beef, lamb, or chicken and generally roasted or boiled vegetables served with gravy.
England is also famous for its fish and chips and has a huge number of restaurants and take-away shops that serve it.
The British are most known for their teatime. It is believed that the English drop everything for a teatime meal in the mid-afternoon. That is no longer like it is believed. Nowadays it is mostly an accompaniment to tourism . The British tea is usually served with milk.
The British are very colourful people. =)