If you've ever wondered why you feel the uncontrollable urge to hold the door open for the person behind you or why you feel gut-punched by awkwardness when you accidentally slam it on them instead, this is the book for you! Offering a brief yet expertly researched and highly entertaining history of a slew of English manners, Sorry! traces the origins of our strange, learned habits, some of which we perform daily. Drawing on famous literary figures (including Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and Samuel Pepys), geography, a few bawdy faux pas, philosophy, social structures, and more, Henry Hitchings provides a quirky and contemporary historical survey that Anglophiles and the insatiably curious will surely appreciate.