An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery

by John Bills

There’s a whole lot more to the Slavs than tired stereotypes and chain-smoking, and ‘An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery’ is here to, well, illustrate that. The good and the great of Slavic history are celebrated in this funnier-than-a-history-book-should-be tome, as John Bills celebrates the revolutionaries of Bulgaria, the poets of Bosnia & Herzegovina, the inventors of Slovakia and more, including Europe’s first vampire and a guy that gets drunk and floats down rivers. Scientists, musicians, artists, diplomats, athletes, warriors and more are explored, as Bills attempts to answer the important questions in life - where did soft contact lenses come from? Who was the first woman to sail around the world on her own? Can a human being deadlift cattle? An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery has the answers.

492 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Mila · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'm a believer in the idea that we shouldn't only judge books based on if the aims of the author have merit, but also in whether they achieve what they set out to do. john bills tells you from the very start what this work is all about and it turns out to be exactly that! a lighthearted book talking about various interesting figures from slavic countries in south and central europe. as someone from this region, i was pleasantly surprised to for once see a book about said cultures that wasn't demeaning and depressing. the people the author talks about are interesting and the chapters can essentially be read about in any order. throughout the entirety of the book, the author manages to be funny and honest without being straight up insulting. (quite an achievement for a brit writing about the balkans) he uses a similar type of humor throughout the book which i thought would become gimmicky, but was pleasantly surprised when that wasn't the case. certainly others might disagree, but i felt as though he always managed to pull back just before it became tiresome. as he says himself, this is no academic tome, so if that's what you are looking for, you should look elsewhere. however if you are interested in reading some accessible material about an undervalued part of europe, then i very much recommend it. the author's love for the regions he's talking about is very obvious, and i for one find it charming.

[Víctor · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as the subject of the book is loable, and I enjoyed the premise of history with a fun touch, silly joke after silly joke made this unbearable at times. Which is unfortunate, because it made me, I feel, miss on part of the story (and history) when a slightly more straightforward (not necessarily more serious) writing could have aced its intention.

I do now know, surely, a bit more about the people who made the Slavic countries what they are today. But that was inevitable with 600 pages of text, wasn't it?