Europublications

The Art of being Belgian - Brussels, Belgium and Beyond - Richard Hill

Reference: ISBN 90-744401-50
Writer: Richard Hill
Title: The Art of being Belgian - Brussels, Belgium and Beyond
Price: € 17.25

The new book examines one of Europe's most fascinating but underrated cultures from the point of view of an intercultural expert and foreign author - one with intimate knowledge of every facet of Belgian life.

Some excerpts: "Contrast and contradiction are the essential flavours of Belgium and its cultures. This is a surrealist country, where day-to-day reality challenges the foreigner's powers of imagination. Yet, as the Dutch can tell you, when confronted with an intellectual impasse, Belgians can be surprisingly creative. In challenging situations they have a remarkable ability to think ‘outside the box’.

When you have had almost every European nation marching through the living room (which someone with a deviant English sense of humour called the Lebensraum), it’s not surprising that you develop a defensive tick. That’s exactly what many Belgians have: a healthy scepticism plus a tendency to batten down the hatches at the slightest sign of trouble, what one can call a ‘bunker complex’. History has taught them to react to developments rather than to initiate them. Hardly surprising in the circumstances!"

WeEuropeans - Richard HILL

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-11-8
Writer: Richard HILL
Title: WeEuropeans
Price: € 17.25

Chapters describe in an anecdotal and easy-to-read style, supported by research results and input from a wide range of observers, the finer points that distinguish one European culture from another. The book provides a penetrating and entertaining analysis of the attitudes and behavioural traits of each nationality and continues with inter-country comparisons covering such aspects as value systems, attitudes to health, day-to-day living, spare-time preferences and communication habits. 'WeEuropeans' concludes with an upbeat look at the future of this idiosyncratic part of the world.

The message of the book is simple and the author has been living with it for a long time. Before making judgements about other peoples' ways of thinking and living, try to understand why they are the way they are. You will be entering a fascinating new world of human relationships, all within the confines of Europe.

An Alternative History of Europe
(extract from 'WeEuropeans' by Richard Hill)

It's impossible to understand most contemporary cultures fully without digging into their history. I wouldn't have understood the way Swedish society works today if I hadn't learned about the Vikings. Modern Austria wouldn't have made any sense if I hadn't read a lot the realm of Maria Theresia.

It also makes little sense to rely on the history books we had thrust on us in our youth. On the issue of the 'worst-case scenarios' of colonialism, English students were referred to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (today's Ethiopia), while their Italian contemporaries learned all about English atrocities in the Boer War (which English students were left blissfully unaware of).

Fortunately the libraries of the nation states are now opening up to books with a relatively balanced European perspective. The best of these, I suggest, is Europe: a History by Norman Davies - the man who, even Poles acknowledge, has written the best ever books on the very complicated history of Poland.

EuroManagers & Martians - Richard Hill

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-13-4
Writer: Richard Hill
Title: EuroManagers & Martians
Price: € 17.25
Richard Hill looks closely at the business and management cultures of Europe. He identifies those areas where cultures collide, comparing management styles and negotiating strategies, and analysing the implications of cross-frontier strategic alliances, multicultural teamwork and 'New Age' management techniques. In the final chapter he examines the case for the EuroManager - as yet an unverified life form like 'little green men" - and concludes that, for the present at any rate, the sensible solution is still to 'Think Global, Act Local'.

"The book is written from an alien's point of view, and it presents both carefully researched and anecdotal evidence in an entertaining read. Carefully steering a course away from the stereotype path, Hill gives well-considered and practical advice on conducting Eurobusiness"

Sharks and Custard - The Things That Make Europeans Laugh - Richard HILL

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-14-2
Writer: Richard HILL
Title: Sharks and Custard - The Things That Make Europeans Laugh
Price: € 12.95

For Hill, 'Sharks and Custard' is a logical progression from the spadework he did on European cultures in his earlier bestsellers, 'WeEuropeans' and 'EuroManagers and Martians'. Humour is an important component of international business life that needs to be handled with tact and understanding. At best it can defuse the difficult moments of a major negotiation, at worst it can ruin a relationship!

Styles of humour can be very revealing for, as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said in one of his lighter moments, "there is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at". If the title of the book needs explanation, that is deliberate. Behind it lies a classic English joke - "Q. What is yellow and dangerous? A. Shark-infested custard." - a joke that makes foreigners feel culturally challenged. Custard is a traditional English sweet which should rightfully be as famous as pudding, but isn't.

Great Britain Little England - Who's fooling whom? - Richard HILL

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-04-5
Writer: Richard HILL
Title: Great Britain Little England - Who's fooling whom?
Price: € 12.95

Hill insists that the English have enormous reserves of creativity and industry, but fail to maximise them : "There is so much talent and promise locked up in this little island that failure to exploit it ranks as little less than a crime against humanity - both against the birthright of the English and against the right of foreigners to enjoy what the English could bring to life if only their system gave them the chance".

"Great Britain Little England", subtitled 'Who's fooling whom', ranges widely over revealing aspects of English life. Chapter headings include the nostalgia factor, privilege and patronage, the importance of being unaccountable, and fudge and humbug.

'The New Comers' - The Austrians, Finns and Swedes - Richard HILL and David HAWORTH

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-06-1
Writers: Richard HILL and David HAWORTH
Title: 'The New Comers' - The Austrians, Finns and Swedes
Price: € 14.95

Richard Hill and David Haworth, a public affairs consultant and a journalist specialising in the Nordic countries, have collaborated to write "The NewComers".

This 176-page book sets out 'to take the lid off' the Austrians, Finns and Swedes, and explain them to their fellow-Europeans and others. The Norwegians were also supposed to be included but, sadly, things didn't work out that way.

"The NewComers" presents a family portrait of each of the three countries - their virtues, their quirks, tastes, habits and sensitivities, together with relevant background on history and politics.

Us & Them - Richard HILL

Reference: ISBN 90-74440-10-X
Writer: Richard HILL
Title: Us & Them
Price: € 14.95

Since his first book, "WeEuropeans", came onto the market seven years ago, Hill has had the opportunity to address audiences of students, undergraduates and graduates totalling over 10.000 young people of every European nationality.

In discussing European issues with them, he discovered that these young people have largely disengaged from conventional politics. They regard politicians with, at best, disinterest and, at worst, distaste or disrespect. This attitude is prevalent across all western European countries, with the possible exception of the Netherlands and Ireland.

Hill concludes : "The world has changed massively in the last fifty years, but western Europe still lives with the threat of social dislocation. Then, the problem was the divides that separated countries and cultures. Us was the mother-country, Them was the rest. Now, the dislocation is within countries and cultures, the growing gulf between Europe's young people and the society they were born into. Today Us is Europe's youth and Them is the rest of us".

Hill's conclusions are supported by the findings of national and international opinion studies, reviewed in detail in the book.

They Only Laughed Later - Tales of Women On the Move - Co-edited by Carol ALLEN and Richard HILL


Reference: ISBN 90-74440-12-6
Writers: Co-edited by Carol ALLEN and Richard HILL
Title: They Only Laughed Later - Tales of Women On the Move
Price: € 14.95

Some of this experience is resumed in this collection of essays, many of them written by published authors, all of whom were fresh from one or more assignments abroad. While there may seem precious little to laugh about in the midst of so much mobility, the truth is that hilarity lurks in the corners of most moves. Aspects of expatriate life evoked in the book include general culture shock, homesickness, language confusion, change of climate, adaptation to cultural differences, and repatriation.

They Only Laughed Later is a pat-on-the-back and a keep-up-the-good-spirits to all the women who have made and are making the most of living abroad. It is a gentle prod, an outstretched hand, a go-for-it to those who find coping abroad scary and insurmountable.

Each of the 30 essays is a heartfelt cameo taken from the real-life experience of an expatriate.