These Ruins are Inhabited

In 1957 George W. Beadle, a visiting professor at Oxford University, won a Nobel Prize and he and his wife, Muriel, took the chance to discover England as the English knew it. In this delightful classic, constantly in print since 1961, Muriel Beadle sets down anecdotes and impressions, illuminating with great sense and humour, the English character, from an American viewpoint. The Beadles were shocked to find Oxford was no sleepy university town, but resembled mid-town Manhattan at high noon. They were faced with mundane problems of stoves and heaters, electrical outlets and library research. As for Mrs Beadle, she found such familiar friends as Heinz, Lux, and Birds Eye. "These Ruins are Inhabited" is sheer enjoyment. It also offers a discerning commentary on English and American education at the time, both at the university level and at secondary schools like the one the Beadles' 15-year-old son attended. (He went home saying 'jolly good' and with a taste for cricket.). The Beadles found that the ruins were, indeed, inhabited, as is this book - with several of the nicest people you've ever met.