Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10659 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-22
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 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 descendants 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. It is as entertaining as a witch burning, and a lot more laughs.

Customer Reviews

Very funny as well as interesting
If you like Blackadder-like humor then this book is perfect for you. It covers the entire history of England and is very easy to read. Whether everything stated in this book is factually correct I don't know, but it's a good laugh nonetheless.

Irony & Sarcasm at its best...
It is obvious that judging by the book title this isn't going to be on the reading list of a history course at university, and that is why I bought it, and thrice more as gifts! I am surprised at all those who were surprised that it wasn't a completely serious book (hence the title), what on earth did they expect?

For a very broad overview of Britain's history this book does the job. It is in short easy to read sections with humour on (almost) every page, with some bowel bursting funny bits. So if you like to dip in and out of books, enjoy history and have a laugh this is a good one. If you're studying history and don't enjoy humour, then maybe you are a descendant of those in the second half of the title and you deserve to be miserable!

ps The conversation at the end between the ghostly historical characters is sublime. How fitting to end with the offer to put the kettle on and make a cup of tea!

light history
2000 years of history in a bit under 600 pages cant be bad - right?

Well for me it was pretty good. The author keeps the narrative ticking over with the barest headlines from each period and enough jokes to keep things light weight. Fine for holiday reading or when you want something a little deeper than The Sun. However, as many with a more serious bent will point out there is a lot of summarising going on, but what do you expect for a comedy/history hybrid?

As long as you know what you're buying (light weight history of Britain, not an authoratitive thesis on proto-European politics/economics/military strategy and you're not a pedant) you'll get on with the book just fine