Product Description

Many of us were put off history by the dry and dreary way it was taught at school. Back then 'The Origins of the Industrial Revolution' somehow seemed less compelling than the chance to test the bold claim on Timothy Johnson's 'Shatterproof' ruler. But here at last is a chance to have a good laugh and learn all that stuff you feel you really ought to know by now...In this "Horrible History for Grown Ups" you can read how Anglo-Saxon liberals struggled to be positive about immigration; 'Look I think we have to try and respect the religious customs of our new Viking friends - oi, he's nicked my bloody ox!' Discover how England's peculiar class system was established by some snobby French nobles whose posh descendents still have wine cellars and second homes in the Dordogne today.And explore the complex socio-economic reasons why Britain's kings were the first in Europe to be brought to heel; (because the Stuarts were such a useless bunch of untalented, incompetent, arrogant, upper-class thickoes that Parliament didn't have much choice.) A book about then that is also incisive and illuminating about now, "2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge", is a hilarious, informative and cantankerous journey through Britain' fascinating and bizarre history. As entertaining as a witch burning, and a lot more laughs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #393 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Synopsis
Many of us were put off history by the dry and dreary way it was taught at school. Back then 'The Origins of the Industrial Revolution' somehow seemed less compelling than the chance to test the bold claim on Timothy Johnson's 'Shatterproof' ruler. But here at last is a chance to have a good laugh and learn all that stuff you feel you really ought to know by now...In this "Horrible History for Grown Ups" you can read how Anglo-Saxon liberals struggled to be positive about immigration; 'Look I think we have to try and respect the religious customs of our new Viking friends - oi, he's nicked my bloody ox!' Discover how England's peculiar class system was established by some snobby French nobles whose posh descendents still have wine cellars and second homes in the Dordogne today.And explore the complex socio-economic reasons why Britain's kings were the first in Europe to be brought to heel; (because the Stuarts were such a useless bunch of untalented, incompetent, arrogant, upper-class thickoes that Parliament didn't have much choice.)

A book about then that is also incisive and illuminating about now, "2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge", is a hilarious, informative and cantankerous journey through Britain' fascinating and bizarre history. As entertaining as a witch burning, and a lot more laughs.

From the Back Cover
When a historian says ‘Waterloo’, do you automatically think of Abba?

Do you wonder how Neville chamberlain failed to realize that Hitler was a baddie when the Fuhrer was so clearly wearing a Nazi armband?

And why did the Normans fight the Saxons at a place called ‘Battle?’did they just see the road signs and just think that’s where they were supposed to go?

From 55 BC to 1945, An Utterly Impartial History of Britain informs, explains, but most of all laughs at the seemingly incomprehensible rollercoaster of events that make up the story of Great Britain. Packed with great characters trapped in impossible dilemmas, this true-life drama will have you on the edge of your seats thinking ‘I wonder which of them dies at the end?’ (Well, they all do obviously. It was ages ago.)

As entertaining as a witch burning and a lot more laughs.

‘Mum, Dad, the Second Crusade is starting! Can we put a St George’s flag on the cart?’
‘No dear, we don’t want everyone to think Daddy is a builder.’

About the Author
John O'Farrell studied history at Desborough Comprehensive, where he got a B in his O level. He later continued his research by watching lots of programmes about the Nazis on the UK History Channel. Apart from that he has published three novels, a memoir and three collections of his popular Guardian column. A former comedy scriptwriter for such shows as Spitting Image and Smith and Jones, he is the founder of the satirical website NewsBiscuit and can occasionally be spotted on such TV programmes as Grumpy Old Men, Newsnight Review and Have I Got News For You.

Customer Reviews

Best history book since - well ever ?
A must read - satirical, current and yet also educational.

Perhaps a bit on the long side, but otherwise perfect

On here to buy another book by this author

Entertaining and informative
I really enjoyed this book . Obviously you can't expect to have a very detailed account of 2000 years of history in just over 500 pages, but I found it informative in that there were a lot of things I didn't know. OK, perhaps some of them weren't really worth knowing, and maybe the historica acuracy was questionable in places, but as a light-hearted 'potted history' I thought it worked well. Humour is very subjective and I see that several reviewers of this book didn't think it was at all funny, but I was quite amused and after I'd read out several 'funny bits' to my husband he decided he had to read it for himself. He wasn't as enthusiastic as me as he prefers more heavyweight reading, but I really enjoyed it. As someone else has said, history books can be very dry and boring and this was a refreshing change.

Not as funny as it thinks it is...
This book is not as funny as it thinks it is. In the preface the author claims it is very different from the classic 1066 and All That. I would agree. That one was funny and just the right length. This I found too long. About two thirds of the way through it was becoming a real slog. Yes, there were parts that made me snort with laughter, but by and large it was a bit tedious and I really had to dig in deep to force myself to finish it.