There Was An Old Geezer Called Caesar: A History of the world in 100 limericks

by Mick Twister

There is a young fellow named Mick, Who's adapted the old limerick, To cover with mirth, The whole history of Earth, And what made its characters tick

These 100 lively and humorous limericks take us back to before the beginning of time itself and right up until yesterday evening when you were probably making your dinner. Covering everyone's favorite history lessons (and a few surprising ones, too!), Mick Twister has cleverly raided the tomes of the past; picked at the bones of the world's greatest figures, moments, and events; and condensed the most complex of human activities into five funny ribtickling lines for your amusement. Anyone who thinks that history is boring will think again after reading this book.

Genres: Poetry, History, Nonfiction, Humor

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2013

About the author

Mick Twister is an anagram of Twitmericks.
He writes limericks about the news on Twitter, more or less daily.
As Mick Hodgkin, he works in TV news.
As Morph and Micawber, he writes crosswords for the Independent and Daily Telegraph.
All of these fellows live in London, and share an interest in news, poetry, humour and wordplay.

Reviews

[Sue Whitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like either limericks or history, this book is a must-read

[Bella Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never read a comical book, but education. The book is a short read if you don't want to get too involved with a new book. Each page starts with a new limerick and tells a new history lesson and is British humor. The story goes from order from when the Earth began up to the 1920s when the stock market crashed.
In the first few pages, the author explains that it is most of the history of the world in 100 limericks. For example, one of the limericks is William Shakespeare. "There was an old fellow named Will who wrote about with rare humour and skill. In sonnets and plays, he coined many a phrase, but the sad fact is that Will couldn't spill." (Twister 50) After the limerick, the book gives a brief summary of person I and what happened in their life. The paragraph of each limerick has humor while explaining the event.
I do recommend reading this book. I was able to relate each event for what I have learned in history class. While reading the book, I was able to get a chuckle on the way it was explained. The book is excellent and is right read for anyone.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I liked the idea of this book more than the execution. Not that it isn’t well done, it is. I just hadn’t appreciated how contrived a book full of history limericks would need to be. It’s a valiant effort, but I got a bit limericked out!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, light read of limericks covering key people in history. Humorous and entertaining. The sort of book to keep by your bed and read one a night, before turning off the light.

[Cari Mayhew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and witty.

[Highlyeccentric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for Dad a while ago, but this is the first time I've got my hands on it. I found it a quick, lightly amusing read. I seem to recall getting pedantically annoyed about something - but only one something, which is impressive. The selection of historical events is overall pretty western-imperialistic, but the takes on those figures are often pleasingly unflattering.

[Renee]

Just right for poetry month.