Kate Fox, a social anthropologist, is Co-Director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford and a Fellow of the Institute for Cultural Research. The author or co-author of four previous books, Fox's work centers on intriguing aspects of human behaviour including pub culture, gossip, flirting, horseracing, mobile phones, email, stress, drugs, crime, violence and social taboos. She lives in London.

"The great thing about this book is you can open it to any chapter and it stands on its own. I found myself reading parts of the book out loud to people to get their opinions. Either they understood and laughed, or they thought I was crazy.... A great gift for someone going to Britain or a British friend. The non-Brit may not believe what they read until they come back from their visit. Reading this book, they_ll gain a new understanding for the British people." -Gabrielle Pantera, Hollywood Today, July 1, 2008. "I'd recommend the book Watching the English by Kate Fox to anyone thinking of spending an extended time here. She covers the pub culture here and notes that because the English are so reserved in the day-to-day (don't underestimate it), they use alcohol as more of a social enabler to get into friendly, chatty mode, often without getting into crazy drunk territory. Fair enough. My excuse for not drinking much at all is that Americans are 'naturally drunk,' as in we're generally more outgoing and prone to approach people to chat without booze involved." -An American in Britain blog, September 28, 2008