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Title: 1066 & All That: A Memorable History of England by W. C. Sellar, R. J. Reatman, Frank Muir ISBN: 0-7509-1716-4 Publisher: Natl Book Network Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Typical "schoolboy's view" of English History and humor.
Comment: Sellars and Yeatman were two English scoolmasters in the 30's who set out to write a history book for Schoolboys and adults who should know better, for entertainment and fun which has become a minor classic. A basically accurate romp through English history, it also pokes fun at some venerable "English" historical stereotypes and misconceptions as well as satirising( very gently) the English exam system of the inter-war years.
" How big was the bosum of the Pope"- candidates may use protractors,- " England was now "top nation "-discuss", are typical extracts from the mock test questions that follow every chapter.
Typically eclectic , charming and witty, the book actually manages to teach a lot of History whilst correcting many a misunderstanding and shedding light on a number of quite unusual topics.
Read the bit about the Scots, Picts and finally, Irish ( once Scots but now Irish) and the Picts living in Scotland but really Irish, and the Scots, formerly Irish but now living in Scotland ( or living in brackets!). Great fun -charming book!
Rating: 5
Summary: A GOOD THING
Comment: In 40 years of visiting the United States and hosting return visits I have only managed to get a vague idea about what English humour appeals to Americans. I am in no doubt that this is a great book, but it is as English as the Ascot, and the humour is very Oxbridge undergraduate humour. If my memory serves me, the authors graduated from Oxford with the accolade of a third-class honours, maybe less, in modern history apiece ('modern' being defined as not ancient Greek and Roman). You do not need much knowledge of British history to enjoy it, a Walt Disney or Saxons-and-sandals overview will be enough.
What you may get out of it is completely unpredictable, at least by me. I am still reduced to helpless laughter by the humour in the book that is downright infantile, like the exam questions - 'Fill in at least two of the following: 1 (blank) 2 (blank) 3 Simon de Montfort. Do not write on more than two sides of the paper' - that sort of thing. The confusions between names are not much more adult and nearly as funny, like the story of how King Arthur burnt the cakes as told by Arthur Lord Tennyson, or Florence Nightingale gradually transmogrified into Flora McNightingown the Lady With the Deadly Lampshade. I still get a kick out of the Anglo-Saxon kings such as the Wave of Egg-kings (Eggfilth etc) and others such as Thruthelthrolth. Maybe the funniest joke in the book is about the king who perished by his own hand on learning that his sons were revolting.
That is a little nosegay of my own favourites jotted down completely at random. If they don't appeal to you, that could just be because of the way I tell them, or it could be that this is not your own idea of funny. For me this little book is a true classic, a book that wears well down the years and decades, much as Lear's limericks do. I should maybe say that I myself am not English although I am Oxbridge. On the other hand I first read the book, and first found it hilarious, when I was only a child. Its great precept is that history is what you can remember. Listening to points of view as I hear them expressed with the modern advantage of instant communications I have to conclude that selective recollection for many people starts right away and does not have to wait for anything to become 'history'.
Rating: 5
Summary: Still funny after 37 years
Comment: I first read this book when I was 10, and 37 years later I still find it just as funny as the first time. It is possibly the best, and certainly the funniest, history of England ever written. From the Roman invasion of 55 B.C. ("the first genuine date in English history"), through to 1930, when "America was thus clearly top nation, and history came to a ." there is hilarity on every page. The brilliant text is accompanied by amusing drawings on every page, and just about every sentence in the book is memorable. The only thing wrong with this gem of a book is that it is so short, I can never make reading it last long enough. As brilliant as Will Cuppy's 'Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody', though a different sort of humour.
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Title: 1066 And All That by W. C. Sellar, R.J. Yeatman ISBN: 0750900830 Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd Pub. Date: 01 May, 1993 List Price(USD): $14.50 |
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Title: The Time Traveler's Wife (Today Show Book Club #15) by Audrey Niffenegger ISBN: 1931561648 Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing Pub. Date: 17 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss ISBN: 1592400876 Publisher: Gotham Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson ISBN: 0767908171 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown ISBN: 0671027360 Publisher: Pocket Star Books Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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