The story is divided into two parts: the 'General' and the 'Particular Alien', both containing several chapters which show 'the strange rules' that need to be followed 'to make yourself civilized' or, in other words, British.  The rules are mostly explained by the comparison between the English people and the Continentals (rest of the Europeans) and using some topics like the weather, the tea, the queues...The plot is focused on behaviours, not on characters.  Because of that, there are no specific characters.

       The first part is hilarious. The second is funny but a bit boring to read, perhaps because of the topics, which are a little too English to be fully understood by a 'continental' reader.  The final chapter, 'If naturalized', is the best of the book, though. 

       The novel is very interesting and you can have a very good time reading it.  But make no mistake, it is not that simple: in the very inside, like in a Russian doll, you will see some other things (classism, hypocrisy, racism...). I recommend it despite the fact that it was written in the sixties of past century and many things might have changed, and the vocabulary is not state-of-the-art.