Edinburgh

Horrible Histories Gruesome Guides #3

by Terry Deary

History with the nasty bits left in!

From the rock settlement of the Bronze Age to the towering tenements of the nineteenth century, the Scots have battled with bullies and fought to keep control of their capital. Read on for a whistle-stop tour of Edinburgh's foul and fierce history.

Want to know:
whose pickled skin became a sought-after souvenir?
why it's alright to spit on the High Street?
how the pupils of Edinburgh High School got away with murder?

Plot your path to the past with he frightful fold-out map of the city - climb up to the cursed castle for tales of reckless raids, hit the High Street for a whole host of historical horrors and visit Holyroodhouse, the home of kidnapped kings and mysterious murders.

History has never been so horrible!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland, Humor, Childrens, Historical, Travel

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

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

[alannahlovesbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in Edinburgh, really interesting to learn about the history!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Newspaper Editions are interesting formats for the Horrible Histories. They don't appear to be too much changed from the original formats as they contain the same illustrations and stories. There are a few fake adverts thrown in though - and without a copy of both to fully compare I can only speculate as they seem very similar to the old format Horrible Histories I remember.

In terms of the content, this guide to Edinburgh is a good overview of all the gruesome stories about Edinburgh as a city. It covers the ones you would expect - Sawney Bean, Burke and Hare, witch-burnings and the hanging of criminals etc The general history of the area is looked at too so you get a lot of info from throughout history.
It was a fun read, with suitably gory and grim stories to meet the requirements of a Horrible Histories book.

[Wayne Farmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the little maps you get in these books - I used this one to help me when planning our trip to Edinburgh. These are just right for giving you a short, quick, witty, bloody, historical insight when you visit a city.

[Stargazer · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Horrible Histories are brilliant. TV series is even better.

[Blančitos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Další výborný svazek z edice Děsivé dějiny z pera Terryho Dearyho. Doporučuji všemi deseti. ;)

[Mariana Osorio Schlögl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the museums in Edinburgh are free, I felt the need to buy something in every museum shop when I visited one. In one of them, I came across this book. And I am so glad I bought it.
It is a really funny and relaxed way to know some history and fun (and scary) facts of the amazing city that is Edinburgh. I am completely in love with this city and reading the book while there made the experience all more perfect.

[Šári · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember loving these when I was younger (not a kid!). But I guess it's fair that I don't anymore - I'm not the target audience now, doing a PhD in Scottish lit xD

[7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

History can be so cruel

[Uma Bharath · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Horrible Histories series are marked by whacky humour and gore. But it can get to drag in parts.Overall, nice and funny take on history. My ten year old loved it!

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing little book (2.5/5)

[Tex · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Edinburgh” is the third of the Horrible Histories Gruesome Guides series of individual towns and cities by Terry Deary. While not a long book (96pages) it’s jam packed full of the Scottish capital’s horrible highlights from 600AD right through to the early 2000’s.

Here you’ll find out about Edinburgh’s cruel castle, horrible high street, miserable Mercat Cross, awful Old Town, and creepy churches.

While aimed at kids these books are fascinating reading for kids and adults alike. Informative, funny, and easy to read the reader is actually in danger of learning something whilst being entertained.

Horrible Histories Gruesome Guide to Edinburgh gets 4 Holyrood horrors out of 5!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this time in the great Horrible Histories reading challenge, we are looking at Edinburgh and all its gruesome history.

A fair amount of this is stuff that you may have already read about in the Scotland special edition, but there are elements that are here for the first time like the tale of Sawney Bean, as they are definitely more a part of Edinburgh specifically rather than Scotland generally.

I enjoyed this, maybe not as much as some of the others that I’ve read recently but I definitely did enjoy it. It was a nice book to almost park my brain and read- it didn’t take much effort.

[Steven Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's history with the nasty bits left in! Want to know: Whose pickled skin became a sought-after souvenir? Why it's alright to spit on the High Street? How the pupils of Edinburgh High School got away with murder? Plot your path to the past with a frightful full-colour map of the city's horrible highlights - climb up the cursed castle for tales of reckless raids and hit the High Street for a whole host of historical horrors! Great for all young learners with an interest into the true history of Edinburgh.

[Ant · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay, I'm an adult, and this is for kids. but especially because it's for kids, I feel that there should be even more fact checking and some background details!
There might be other errors, but one egregious error is that the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Chapel of Margaret at the Castle, is built by David I for his MOTHER! not WIFE! Now I'm no historian. but from the official Castle guidebook it says so! so I'd trust that.....

But it's funny, well drawn, with interesting tidbits. so, yes, I do want to "collect them all"!

[Katie Sapphire-Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm currently on a little holiday in Edinburgh and I bought this book on the first day, just something a bit fun to read at the hotel. I love the Horrible Histories books but found this one just not as funny or in-depth as the others, maybe it's the newspaper style that put me off? However I still learnt some fun facts and it'd be a great book for kids to get interested in the history of the city. Plus it's a fun souvenir for me!

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Horrible Histories series, but I felt like this one was a bit of a let down. I felt like it could've been MORE. more gruesome. More facts. More information. More fun. It just needed more. I enjoyed it and I learned something, don't get me wrong, but just compared to the other Horrible Histories, this one felt lacking!

[Xanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This city sounds historically interesting, with this book a nice little compact introduction to it. Told with the usual blackish humour and gross elements you can expect from this series. The illustrations are just as integral to the book as the text is.
From ghosts, to body snatchers, to witch trials - a lot of horrible history in Edinburgh.

[Georgi_Lvs_Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah….. so this has obviously got A LOT OF humour in it and for me it just did NOT work for me. I did enjoy reading about Edinburgh and it is my goal to read many books on this city but in the future I may need to avoid reading HORRIBLE HISTORIES…. Although I do have another two books in this series to read and since I already have them I will read them but after that, that is it 😂

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Horrible Histories, what more need be said? seriously though, this book was ok, not the best of ll the books due to a more narrow focus on edinburgh (which it doesn't quite stick to) but interesting none the less.

[Helen Blunden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decided to work my way through my entire collection of Horrible Histories for 2018. Thing is, while reading the history of Edinburgh, I became nauseous at the amount of blood that has been shed in that City.

[James R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and grisly history of Edinburgh that doesn't shy away from the forum details of the city's gory past. It's obviously aimed at a young audience but I enjoyed reading it anyway and under the silly humour and light tone there is quite a lot of historical information to absorb.

[kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

first book of the year. read this otw home from edinburgh. it was entertaining alright, bad jokes and everything. i think it mightve been for kids. didnt like it that much. most of it was common knowledge but i liked the illustration. not that gorey. just meh

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haha! Love these books.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly, fun, and definitely gruesome guide to Auld Reekie.
Recommended for children (and adults) with a strong stomach. ;o)

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok

i think there are better horrible histories books than this one . i think there was just too much uck

[Ahmad Meer]

Rfftt

[Fergus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty good its got very gruesome things in it though

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool

[Charlocked (Bookish-Charlie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second Horrible Histories I read and I loved it as well !
I bought it in Edinburgh last summer and now I wish I had read it straight away while I was in the city ! Guess I'll have to visit again !!

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had expected a bit more about the streets of Edinburgh.