
A History of Britain in Ten Enemies
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Narrated by:
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Toby Longworth
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By:
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Terry Deary
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
A ridiculously funny history of Britain for adults from the multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Horrible Histories, perfect for fans of Unruly by David Mitchell.
Ah, Britain. So special. The greatest nation on earth, some say. And we did it all on our own. Didn’t we?
As it happens Britannia got its name from the Romans, and for the past two centuries we have been ruled by Germans. As Horrible Histories author Terry Deary argues, nations and their leaders are defined by the enemies they make.
- Elizabeth I would count as a minor royal without the Spanish Armada
- Without the Nazis, Churchill would be remembered as an opposition windbag
- The surprisingly sadistic Boudica would be forgotten if it weren't for the Roman Ninth Legion
And after all, every nation sometimes needs a bit of unifying Blitz spirit (although in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have accidentally let Corporal Hitler go in the first place).
The British have a proud history of choosing their enemies, from the Romans to the Germans. You might even say those enemies made Britain what it is today...
A History of Britain in Ten Enemies is a witty, whistlestop tour of British history that will have you laughing as you find out what they didn't teach you in school.
'If you could take just one history book to a desert island, this would be it. Laugh out loud funny... Pure joy' Conn Iggulden
'Ram-packed with mind-blowing facts, hilarious characters, and little-known tales' Dan Schreiber
'Playful, cheeky, and very clever, this is a book for anyone who ever wished there was a Horrible Histories for grown-ups' Kate Lister
Great British History Lesson with added dry humour
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Mildly entertaining.
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Great book
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Shallow and superficial.
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The shorty whity humour you expect
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It's darkly humorous, and enjoyably tongue in cheek although I'm not entirely sure about the historical factuality throughout. It's enjoyable, it opens up to more questions that you can explore and has an ultimately positive goal of showing how we're ultimately brought together by what we have in common instead of what divides us.
Darkly Humorous
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The guy’s not a fan …
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Don’t except to learn much
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Reads like someone writing a history about a country they hate and trying to hide it poorly.
A childish political treatise hidden in a history book.
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There are several, but the most egregious and the moment that really took me out of the book was the repeated statement that James II was Charles II’s son rather than his brother. This really is basic stuff.
I grew up on Terry Deary - his Horrible History books fuelled my love of history. For that I’ll always be grateful, but this was a disappointment.
Basic factual errors spoil what could have been…
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