Ari Turunen has written 11 non-fiction books. His books have been translated to 11 different languages. Turunen is the most translated non-fiction writer in Finland. His books reveal in a hilarious way why we behave like we do. They offer a witty – and occasionally blunt –Nordic view to cultural and global history. One of his books Brute Force tells the story of the world class icebreakers for which Finland is renown.

After You Madame!

A Shameless History of European Manners

The customary chivalric manner to let the lady go fi rst dates back to the Middle Ages – knights new well that an assassin might be hiding in the dark hallway! This shameless and amusing best-seller takes the reader into a world that is fascinatingly new and awkwardly familiar: the history of European manners. Why do people shake hands? Where goes the limit when spitting and burping are considered inappropriate? The book analyzes the most essential areas of behaviour, from greeting to bedtime. There is no point in elevating the rules of conduct, because the early history of some currently civilized manners is not quite what one might expect. The hypocritical book of manners provides background information of the European etiquette,both for those who think they don’t know their manners and for those who know better. 200 pages

Table of Contents

The cover of German edition published in 2016

Ari Turunen

Ari Turunen is a Finnish writer and science editor. He is a Licentiate of Social Sciences and his thesis was a about the politics of different world maps and world views.

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