At last, Terry Deary turns his hand to the blood-curdling history of Britain! All the foul facts from the murky pasts of England Ireland, Scotland and Wales revealed in full-colour, with a dreadful door poster on the reverse of the jacket. This is local history with the nasty bits left in.
A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.
A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.
The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.
Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).
He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.
These Horrible History Books are some of the best books every written EVER I think. Full of facts, and fun engaging information and stories told in a way that makes learning about history FUN. It's really brilliant that they focus on the parts that you might not find out about in school. I have found that the more gross and weird facts I find out the more I want to find out about this whole period in history. These books have been really brilliant to shar with my mum and dad and the rest of my family, because the facts are short and easy to remember so I can share them with my friends and family. I think these books are amazing I want to read and collect them all! Perfect gifts for children who have started to read books independently because there are so many to collect and enjoy.
kuna ma olen juba kolm korda lugenud läbi Suurbritannia kodakondsustesti õpiku peatüki riigi kuulsusrikkast ajaloost, aga ei tea ikka veel, mis oli Henry VIII viienda naise nimi või mis aastal liitus Šotimaa Ühendkuningriigiga, siis korjasin selle lasteversiooni tänavalt üles lootuses, et kui mulle lihtsamalt seletada, siis ma saan aru.
ja ma saangi kõigest aru. aga meelde ikka mitte midagi ei jää.
“The Horrible History of Britain and Ireland (Horrible Histories)” by Terry Deary, Martin C. Brown (Illustrator).
Quality production. ****
Did you know?
1845 – A disease rots most of the potatoes in Ireland and the people starve. The Irish Potato Famine kills over two million. Another two million move out of the country to find a new life somewhere else. (p73)
1848 – Young Ireland rebellion. (p73)
“... the poorest peasants in Ireland grew potatoes. It grew on the poorest land and gave a huge crop. “In August 1845 a fungus attacked the potatoes and it spread quickly over the country. The potatoes looked all right, but when you pulled them up they were black and rotten inside. People went hungry and began to starve to death...” (p75)
“We ate the blood from a cow, baked with vegetables or anything we could find. Didd you know that you could take 2 litres of blood from living cow before it falls over?” (p75)
“Sure, we ate the dogs first, then the donkeys ...” etc (p75) - - -
The Horrible Histories books and television series (and now film) have been a humorous and informative way of informing children of historical events and the past Ages and eras of England and Ireland (in this books case). The book is jam-packed full of jokes, eye-catching illustrations (by Martin Brown) and facts which draw children in - gory facts, gruesome, criminal, rebellious, slimy, food, executions, truly horrible as the title suggests. The use of alliteration draws the reader in and makes each period memorable - ‘Rotten Romans','Dreadful Dark Ages',' Measly Middle Ages’,‘Slimy Stuarts',''Gory Georgians',' Vicious Victorians' ‘Terrible 20th Century’. It's entertaining, funny and a great way to inform children of historical facts that they'll remember. It's a great way to get children into history in a fun, silly yet accurate way. Would recommend!
Review 9 The Horrible History of Britain and Ireland by Terry Deary and Martin Brown. 4 Stars The whole Horrible History series has been great at engaging children of all ages with History. It has done this by looking for the more gruesome and strange facts that might not be normally covered in a history class. There are many books in the series but this one covers British and Irish history from the Stone Age to the end of the 20th century. There is allot of dipping in and out of previous titles for highlights of different time periods. There are chapters called Dreadful Dark Age Britain, Gory Georgian Britain, Criminal Brits and Great British Losers. From suffering schools, body snatching, the famine food guide and more facts about poo and illnesses than I thought was possible in such a short space this is a great book. Made popular by the TV spin off show, I would use Horrible Histories to engage any reluctant reader, it’s great for reading in tiny sections. It would also be of use for guided reading or for comprehension of text as it’s full of facts that will engage children at any time in KS2. I intend to keep this copy and use it to make my classes more interesting when I’m teaching History.
It's always an enjoyment to read one of the Horrible Histories! This one brings something that is quite novel to me, besides its humorous language and funny comics, and that is the histories concerning not only Britain but also Ireland. And of course, Scotland and Wales are also included in this book. I would really love to read more about the British and Irish histories beyond this series. Anyways, as an English teacher, it seems that I have to know more about the place where the language originates.
I thought this one would engage my younger teen sons more. Mostly hubby and I enjoyed the comics, stories, history and headlines. I think some of the comics were over my sons' heads because they didn't know the history being poked fun of. What this book did best, in my opinion, was bring historic people, such as King Arthur and King Dermot, to life in quick "horrible" paragraphs.