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The mark of a civilised country is to know what it is to be civil. But what if you don't know? Across the ages, social commentators have written guide books to tell the uninitiated how to do the right thing at the right time in the right way.

And it's not just snobs that have published guides - the great Renaissance theologian Erasmus took time out from arguing with Luther to instruct children how to behave in company.

Nor is it yet another invention of Victorian England. Five thousand years ago, Ptah-Hotep set down on papyrus the rules of behaviour that all wise men should convey to their sons.

Episode 3: The Middling Classes
During the 18th century the growing middle classes needed a guide to behaviour. The Rudiments of Genteel Behaviour defined much of our modern understanding of politeness including maintaining restraint around overt opulence.

A Whistledown production for 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4