Keep Calm and Carry On was a WWII government poster discovered in a dusty box nine years ago. Though it never saw the light of day in 1939 (it was only supposed to go up if Britain was invaded), it has suddenly struck a chord in our current difficult times, now we are in need of a stiff upper lip and optimistic energy once again. Gordon Brown has one up in 10 Downing Street and James May wears a Keep Calm T-shirt on the telly – it is suddenly everywhere.

The book is packed full of similarly motivational and cheering quotes, proverbs, mantras and wry truths to help us through the recession, from such wits as Churchill, Disraeli and George Bernard Shaw.

Funny, wise and stirring – it is a perfect source of strength to get us all through the coming months.

‘A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain’ – Mark Twain. ‘It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own’ – Harry S. Truman. ‘An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today’ – Laurence J. Peter. ‘Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine’ – Lord Byron. ‘Better bread with water than cake with trouble’ – Russian Proverb.