And Now All This

by W.C. Sellar, R.J. Yeatman

And Now All This

Genres: Humor, History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Walter Carruthers Sellar was a Scottish humourist who wrote for Punch. He is best known for the 1930 book 1066 and All That, a tongue-in-cheek guide to "all the history you can remember," which he wrote together with R. J. Yeatman.

Sellar was born at Golspie in Sutherland. He won a scholarship to Fettes College where he was Head Boy in 1917. After serving briefly in World War I as a Second Lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, he took a degree in modern history at Oriel College, Oxford (which, as recorded in 1066 and All That, was awarded through an aegrotat in 1922). It was at Oriel that he met his contemporary Yeatman, and struck up a lifelong friendship. Although the two produced brilliant work together, they were entirely different personalities: Sellar was somewhat shy and introverted, although he enjoyed acting. He wrote melancholy poetry in addition to dry humour.

Sellar had begun to contribute to Punch in 1925 when three humorous short stories of his were published (he also contributed to other journals around this time). His collaboration with his old University colleague Yeatman, who was also writing for Punch, appears to have begun in 1928 during his period out of teaching. The first part of 1066 and All That appeared in Punch on September 10, 1930, taking its title from Robert Graves' autobiography Good-Bye to All That. Sellar's contribution is particularly noted in the comic exaggerations and name confusions; his knowledge of English literature also inspired the book's many literary allusions and pastiches.

After completing the book, Sellar worked with Yeatman again on a sequel, And now all this, a parody of general knowledge, including subjects as diverse as geography, knitting and topology, which is relatively little remembered. The 1933 book Horse Nonsense was credited to the two but is largely the work of Yeatman, while Garden Rubbish and other Country Bumps is also credited to the two but largely Sellar's work. It is noted for a more nuanced form of humour which depends on elaborate word-play.

Reviews

[Alice Albarda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book ever!!! Read it!!! Where alse can you read about psycho-babycraft, the practice and fury of knitting, and golliwology?

[Azriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure satire in an old form. Highly entertaining read, will definitely be seeking out the other works!

[Victoria Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very funny. I hadn't read 1066 And All That which I must now. This is more general than history - geography, nutrition, knitting, birds. The use of language in different contexts is very funny, as are images of women making their own nest and dressing in brown during the mating season, with men on all fours. I laughed out loud - and quite easy as you can read in short bursts, chapter by chapter. At the end of each chapter, list of questions. It even refreshed some of my knowledge from Greek Mythology. Every chapter is hilarious.

[Benj · Rating 3 out of 5]

1066 And All That was a work of genius and, I am sure, a labour of love. After it'd been out for a while, someone said to the authors (or possibly they said to themselves) "That was fun. Can you do a sequel?".

It suffers from the problem that all sequels have, when they're inspired by commercial objectives rather than the muse - it's nowhere near as good. It is still pretty clever, and there are a few good jokes in there, but it's just not in the same class.

[Clara]

Not as funny as 1066 And All That, but entertaining nonetheless.

[Michael David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors pervert and bullshit through important topics of study, and it's honestly funny.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was fun in a lot of places, but it feels much more 'of its era' than '1066 and All That', so is a little harder to get along with.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never quite reaches the levels of 1066 and All That, but nevertheless a very funny read.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A bit more problematic than the first one (and not quite as amusing), but still fun. I liked the chapter on child psychology best.

[Eddy Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as funny as 1066 and all that, to which it will be inevitably compared, and tries a bit too hard, but has some funny bits.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spoof high school curriculum from between the wars. So it is very dated and was probably funnier when it first came out. The paragraph on New Zealand is surprisingly accurate.

[Gwen Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

It surprises me that this book has at least 30 editions - Amazon shows an edition dated 2004. The book I bought many years ago was the fourteenth edition in 1951 (the first edition was 1932). I had found 1066 And All That hilarious - surely And Now All This would be equally so. No - not even close - though I am casting back decades - maybe 1066 wasn't funny either.

The introduction to this "Treasury of Absolutely General Knowledge" has some truths humorously stated - "In a previous Work the authors demonstrated that History was not what people thought - but what they could remember. An extension of this principle is urgently necessary if the whole of Education is not to fall into disrepute, and be abandoned like the Use of the Globes and The Dates of The Kings of Israel and Judah".

But you see from this passage that the content is very dated (of course) and very thoroughly silly. Silliness was supposed to be the book's attraction but all the references would be lost today. Who knows what a Globe is in this age of Google Earth? I doubt the value even as a collector's item but will try to sell it anyway.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

And Now All This by Sellar and Yateman, a sequel to 1066 and All That is similarly amusing, but not consistently so. Some of the humor is based on attitudes and reactions to new ideas of psychology, which today seem less revolutionary and important. The section on geography was better, but that on science was simply silly in a disorderly way. There is no explaining humor, and others will certainly have different opinions. It does not take long to read it, so read it and see what amuses you.

[Black Glove · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining antique. More punny than funny. I liked the style, the pizzazz.