Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt

Dangerous Days

by Terry Deary

Think that Ancient Egypt is just a load of old obelisks?
Don't bet your afterlife on it.

Ancient Egypt should be deader than most of our yesterdays. After all it was at its height 5,000 years ago. Yet we still marvel at its mummies and ponder over its pyramids. It's easy to forget these people once lived and laughed, loved and breathed ... though not for very long.

These were dangerous days for princes and peasants alike. In Ancient Egypt - a world of wars and woes, poverty and plagues - life was short. Forty was a good age to reach. A pharaoh who was eaten by a hippo ended up as dead as a ditch-digger stung by a scorpion. Unwrap the bandages and you'll find that the Egyptians' bizarre adventures in life were every bit as fascinating as the monuments they left to their deaths.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2016

About the author

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.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sophie Crane]

Think that Ancient Egypt is just a load of old obelisks? Don't bet your afterlife on it.
Ancient Egypt should be deader than most of our yesterdays. After all it was at its height 5,000 years ago. Yet we still marvel at its mummies and under over its pyramids. It's easy to forget these people once lived and laughed, loved and breathed...though not for very long.

These where dangerous days for princes and peasants alike. In Ancient Egypt- a world of wars and woes, poverty and plagues- life was short. Forty was a good age to reach. A pharaoh who was eaten by a hippo ended up as dead as a ditch-digger stung by a scorpion. Unwrap the bandages and you'll find that the Egyptians' bizarre adventures in life were every bit as fascinating as the monuments they left to their deaths.

As a child, I was, much as I am today, obsessed with history. What was a child obsessed with history to read?! Horrible Histories. Even as a child I didn't read the kind of history books I read today, namely thick books with tiny type, or actual text books just for the fun of it. I had quite the collection of Horrible Histories books, as well as the Science and Geography ones, I used to read them yeah, but I also used to use them to help me with homework or in the case of Science, just plain understand what the hell I was being taught. Science was not a strong point of mine, to be honest. I'm actually quite sad that I ended up taking them all to the charity shop a few years ago, when I was a teenager and trying to make my room 'minimalistic'. It is not, nor will ever be that, but I didn't know that then. Anyway, off they went, and I do regret it. Perhaps one day I'll buy them all back.

I'm now, supposedly, an 'adult'. It's like Terry Deary knows how much I miss the fun of Horrible Histories, because here he is with a book that, at least to me, seems a lot like Horrible Histories...for adults. This is the fourth book, I'm actually surprised I haven't stumbled across the others before and I'll be adding them to my list!

Anyway, we all know I'm obsessed with Ancient Egypt above all other time periods, not really sure why, but whatever. So it's not really a surprise that this caught my eye. I have to say, while the book had a lot of things that I already knew....it also had a lot of things I didn't know. For instance, the day to day lives of the peasants of Ancient Egypt. The book contains a hell of a lot of information....but it's concise. There's no tiny font and endless pages. It's maximum information without being boring.

There's Did You Know boxes, timelines, bullet points, lists, quotes and more as well as paragraphs of information. The book is divided in to different sections, and each is packed with little mini sections. Different rulers, different archaeologists and so on. There where actually some female archaeologists that I, shamefully, had no idea existed.

Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt is perfect if you want to know more about the time period without having to read endless pages. It's easy to read and easy to understand without being too dumbed down. It's amusing and makes you chuckle every so often. It was brilliantly written to be honest, the same tone as Horrible Histories from what I remember, almost chatty, some sarcasm, plenty of wit. There's even a bit about curses. We all love a good curse don't we?

Seriously, I couldn't resist using a Mummy GIF anymore, be thankful I only used the one!

Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt is an informative, yet fun read, and has plenty of knowledge to share with you including a step by step guide to mummifying someone! There's even a grave robbers guide in case you fancy a change of career. This book brought me a good couple of hours of entertainment and it's great to have the format of Horrible Histories, but changed up for adults to read, Deary makes history fun and he always has, and not a lot of history books manage to do that, they're usually quite dry. I'm excited to see what period of history he will cover next!

If you want to pick up the other books we have.....

-Dangerous Days In The Roman Empire
-Dangerous Days On The Victorian Railways
-Dangerous Days In Elizabethan England

The Roman one has a freaking Carry On quote on the back and I laughed for way longer than I should have! I'll definitely be getting around to picking these up, and I really think you all should too!

[Kristin]

I really enjoyed being able to read Terry Deary again, his horrible history books where what first got me into history. This is full of lots of interesting facts written in a way that is so easy to read.

[Xanthi]

Fun, entertaining and informative. If you are really into Egyptology, you won't learn much. But if you just have a passing interest, this book will draw you in and hold your interest.
This is the second book I have read in this series for adults, and am enjoying it. I look forward to reading the others.

[Lisa]

I’m a huge fan of Terry Deary. For those of you not in the know, he’s the creator of the superlative Horrible Histories – aimed at kids (but adults find a lot to love too) and concentrating on the gross, gory and gossipy bits – and now the Dangerous Days series for the slightly more grown up.

Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt delivers exactly what it promises on the cover – pyramids, plagues, gods and grave-robbers – all told with its eye on keeping the reader entertained as they are informed. If you’re looking for tons of detail, you’re in the wrong place, as Terry instead takes us on a whistlestop tour of Ancient Egyptian culture, from around 3150BC up until Cleopatra capitulated to Rome in 51BC, telling us what is known about the more interesting pharaohs and their funerary arrangements (which is how we know about some of them at all) and not forgetting to make a stop with the Victorian Egyptologists who ransacked their final resting places and carted their treasures (and, at times, their bodies) out of the country and into the hands of European museums.

Although it has its tongue firmly in its cheek, Deary doesn’t pull his punches where necessary, calling out the Victorian grave-robbers for what they were and making sure that we know that some theories about the Ancient Egyptians were simply the product of racism, that other, more mystical theories are nothing more than wishful New Age thinking, and that fresh murder victims have been passed off as ancient mummies more than once.

Entertaining from start to finish, I can’t think of a host that’s more fun to take a stroll through history with than Terry Deary, and have already bought the rest of the series.

**Also posted at Cannonball Read 11**

[Book Grocer]

Purchase Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt here for just $10!

This is a wonderful imagining of Ancient Egyptian culture, from around 3150BC up until Cleopatra capitulated to Rome in 51BC. It has all that one would expect from such a title, including pyramids, plagues, gods and grave-robbers. Equally factually fascinating as tongue in cheek funny and entertaining. For lovers of historical fiction and ancient cultures.

Amarina- The Book Grocer

[Patron]

I've enjoyed what I've consumed of Horrible History. The funny thing is that a spinoff of the series called Horrible Science is more popular here for whatever reason, but as a history nerd Horrible History always cracked me up, although I've had precious little interaction with the series. Seeing Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt at a sale that I attended a few weeks ago, I was bamboozled! Terry Deary writing a history book for adults? And a book about an area of history that I wasn't as familiar with as, say, British history? I picked the book up right away! I knew that pop history tended to be somewhat unreliable, and this definitely seemed like pop history to me, but I figured that if I read it with a critical eye I'd be encouraged to look up more rigorous information about Ancient Egypt.

Reading this with a critical eye did inspire me to do that, but, most of all, it revealed to be that Terry Deary is honestly an arrogant twat. He may be a national treasure, sure. But he's a twat.

I won't even attack Deary's humor here. It's true that he's not as funny as he supposes he is, but I did get a chuckle from reading this book every now and then. The thing is, though, reading this let me look up what Terry Deary was doing with his life, anyway, and, dear God, the man actually believes public libraries are outdated. What a daft thing to believe. I'm avoiding ad hominem here, though, so I'm bringing attention to one other fact: Deary apparently thinks all professional historians are rubbish. Interesting! He says that they're biased (as if you could study or present anything without some bias in your system) and that they interpret history based on their own whims. Well, I have my own problems with mainstream historians, but such a generalization was a bit...troubling. As I discovered as Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt went on, that belief of Deary's ends up having rather...drastic consequences on the state of his work.

There's no question in my mind that Dangerous Days in Ancient Egypt is an entertaining read, but while Deary's retellings of ancient history are interesting, he doesn't know how to apply a proper approach to interpreting Ancient Egypt for the life of him. Even putting his careless ridicule of Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology aside (I wouldn't want to live in Ancient Egypt either, but, for the love of Horus, Terry, apply some relativism in your work! I mean, come on, no shit, Ancient Egyptians didn't think according to a modern mindset. Do you have to emphasize how strange their beliefs seem now with every quip of yours?) some of the suggestions he makes in the book are more than a little laughable. Once, for instance, Deary seems to suggest that the Set's jealously for Orsis mirrors the jealously Joseph's brothers have for Joseph in the Book of Genesis. Fair enough. The problem with this is that he uses this observation to imply that the story of Joseph is a whole-ass ripoff of Egyptian mythology. Haha, get it? If envy is a topic explored in two different stories, it means one of them ripped the other off! Brilliant! Quality reasoning!Oh, and, to be honest, Deary's average wit and narrative skill gets pretty tiring to consume near the end of Dangerous Days In Ancient Egypt. This isn't his fault, of course, but couldn't the guy have tried to describe the barrage of Pltolemies that arrive once the Greeks come a bit more creatively?

This book is still more or less a fun read, but it stops being engaging sooner than later, and the most significant impact it'll have is leading you to question whether the renown Terry Deary receives is justified or not. His simplification of history is acceptable enough in Horrible Histories, which is a series targeted at kids and their families, but him trying to apply the same brush to a work meant for grown-up history neophytes in this book doesn't add up to measure. Sure, I might cite this as a book that started my interest in Ancient Egypt in the future, but there have to be better pop history books on the subject somewhere out there. Maybe Deary doesn't approve of public libraries because he knows people who can't be bothered to buy his books can't criticize him as often. Given the quality of Dangerous Days in Egypt, such a master plan wouldn't surprise me!

[Helix]

Fun, interesting, and dangerously witty, I horribly enjoyed this historical book, though I am torn about whether to give it a 4 or a 3,5 stars. The fact is, although I enjoyed Deary’s tone and how this book is organised (takes you down paths untaken and refreshingly brief), sometimes I...well, I do think that the author is being more than a tad bit disrespectful towards Ancient Egyptian culture and religion, and this comes from a strongly skeptical agnostic. I am also disappointed that Deary simply files off their mythology as “superstition” and something to ridicule, not as the center of their culture and a rich tapestry of stories. For a book that claims to take you back to the “dangerous days” where the Ancient Egyptians lived, this book is surprisingly distant and hollow at places. Not to mention that the author often forcibly shoehorned his own views here and there (which historians are often do, I am told), often when it is most unwelcome to do so.

Bottom line, if you’re looking for hardcore Egyptology, then this isn’t for you. But if you liked Ancient Egypt as a child (who doesn’t?) this book would probably make an enjoyable, witty read for you, and it’s so easy to get into. Just take it with a grain of natron salt.

[Rebecca]

Enjoyed this. As with most of Deary's books, it finds the ideal balance between being a fun read while giving the reader a good overview of ancient Egyptian history. It also gives some information about the turbulent Intermediate periods between the various kingdoms, and explains the wider dynamics of what was going on with Egypt's various neighbours over the millennia.

I also like that it goes into more serious matters, such as the damage done by early "antiquarians", some of whom destroyed artefacts to make their collections more valuable, and generally seemed to think that their collecting was some sort of game, rather than a serious business of recording history and learning about how the ancient people lived. I'm also glad the book touches on the racist roots of the various "it wuz aliens!" pyramid conspiracies.

As well as the pharaohs, it gives insight into people's ordinary daily life, Egyptian religious beliefs and other topics, in an easy-to-read, accessible way that provides a good starting point for anyone wanting to dive (back?) into learning about Ancient Egypt. The only complaint from me is that I'd like the book to be longer, but then it is meant to encourage us to read more complex books on the subject.

[Zaide]

Just as funny as it’s predecessor (Dangerous Days in the Roman Empire) but slightly less enthralling.

My complaints from book one remain (too many pretentious quotes from famous literary figures and some confusing timelines) and this instalment featured much more information pertaining to more current timeframes. There are whole chapters on grave-robbers (even recent ones from the late 18th and early 19th century) as well as in-depth information on archaeologists famous for their Egyptian knowledge/involvement. It’s not that these sections weren’t interesting, it’s just that I was more invested in the actual history of the Egyptians and their ways of life than the more present stuff.

Super fascinating learning about their culture and their beliefs, and I loved the contrast of their lifestyles with those we learned about in book 1. The Egyptians were particularly less violent and less disturbed than the Romans, though they did share their preference for marrying relatives.

Definitely recommended if you’re looking for an easy, witty jaunt through history (pat particular attention to the footnotes which contain some fun facts and great puns).

[Christopher Squire]

Having voraciously read all the Horrible History series as a child I looked forward to this book. I expected a more detailed book with the quirks and wit of a horrible history, what I in fact got feels like a slightly extended copy of Awful Egyptians. Some of the passages in this book are nearly word for word the same. Now I LOVE tje horrible history books so this isn't a major problem but it does make this a less enjoyable read for me. I really recommend Terry Deary's books and will continue to read them as they are enjoyable and informative. A good read. :-)

[The Bibliognost Bampot]

It’s Horrible Histories for adults … which is a little redundant as Horrible Histories is for adults anyway! To be honest, apart from the very funny little footnotes and asides, it’s a little dry and stilted. The fascinating subject matter makes it readable and interesting but I’ll stick with Awful Egyptians next time!!

[Tom B]

If you're looking for knowledge on Ancient Egypt, don't bother with this book. The few interesting bits that you could find are drowned out by the most banal and inane puns. I don't understand what this author is aiming at. It's definitely not for kids, yet these jokes are so immature. There's no bibliography, so that disqualifies it as a history book too.

[Gemma Venn]

Funny at first but the crap jokes quickly became tedious and distracting.
Had some interesting historical nuggets but overall, Dreary should stick to writing junior history books and leave the adult ones to someone more serious

[Jo]

Deary is more known for his Horrible Histories series of books. This is part of a quartet of history books written for an adult audience. Some terrible dad jokes but made up of short chapters and quotes that make it an entertaining and easily digestible read.

[Janet]

Just a fun, enjoyable, easy to read book. Lots of information about Ancient Egypt with humor thrown in.

[Thanida]

Well sequencing with loads of fun (and eye-opening) facts about ancient Egypt.

[Indah Threez Lestari]

75 - 2023

[Kathleen]

Dangerous Days is Deary's new history series for adults, or at the very least young adults. It's in the juvenile section at my library, but that's really not an appropriate classification, at least not to me, as Deary discusses death in graphic medical detail and brings up sexual intrigue in, again, worrying detail. I'd save this for a preteen at the very earliest.

That said, I kind of love them. This is basically Deary's first series, Horrible Histories, that has been updated and aged up for an older audience. It has also been corrected for accuracy, as many of the Horrible Histories were written before several recent and major advances in historical research rendered many of them inaccurate. However, Deary sticks to his strengths here, concentrating on the little horrible details that really bring the past to life. Great books for the teenager who has aged past the Horrible Histories but still wants something fun and gruesome to read, or for the adult who refuses to age past the Horrible Histories but also wants something fun and gruesome to read. I'd definitely recommend these.

[Liselotte]

Now, first you need to know, that I'm a BIG Horrible Histories fan. So my opinion may be biased, slightly.
I loved this book. This is just like the Horrible Histories books, but just more in depth and "grown up". Mind, they do repeat some of the information from the books (and the same jokes...), but if you want a more in-depth than the Horrible Histories one, then this is a great one. It kind of feels like the Dangerous Days is it's young adult equivalent of the HH series.
The writing isn't boring, it doesn't feel stuffy or too difficult. It's a nice, easy, enjoyable read (I started this last night and finished it just this afternoon, and due to my ADD, that doesn't happen often!).
I really recommend this book!

[Daniel Kukwa]

Terry Deary is still not as funny as he thinks he is...but I will give it a pass on this occasion, as I found this to be the most informative & interesting book in the "Dangerous Days" series that I have read to date. For the most part, it's due to its strict, chronological structure; a little extra organizational discipline goes a long way towards reader satisfaction.

[Victoria Frow]

Very good and entertaining. Full of information and jokes which keep you reading. Enjoyed the other books in this series.

[Jessica]

Very in-depth about the ancient world of Egypt.
However, I got lost a few times with the familiar names of the rulers.