Is fair play essentially English?
An English Tradition? The History and Significance of Fair Play
Jonathan Duke-Evans
OUP, £35, 464 pages
An English Tradition? is Jonathan Duke-Evans’s literary debut. It sets out to identify the origins of the notion of “fair play” and determine whether it is, in fact, an essential aspect of English and/or British national character. The author does not aim to debunk the idea, but rather contends that “there is indeed in British culture a deep layer of attitudes and customs which are grouped together under the heading of fair play”. The book is leavened throughout with the lightness of touch and wry humour of an escaped academic and career civil servant; it succeeds in every respect.
