The Greatest Nobodies of History cover art

The Greatest Nobodies of History

Minor Characters from Major Moments

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The Greatest Nobodies of History

By: Adrian Bliss
Narrated by: Adrian Bliss
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Narrated by Adrian Bliss, featuring the voices of Beth Rylance, Sebastian Humphreys and Kristin Atherton.

History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters.

The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor’s toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch.

These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it’s high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately, - thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts and memoirs in bottles - now they can.

Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, The Greatest Nobodies of History is a surreal love letter to life’s forgotten heroes featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the frontlines of the Great Emu War.

All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true...

'All at once funny, touching, dazzlingly informative and fascinating, brilliantly imaginative and altogether wonderful. Capable of switching between divine silliness and genuinely tender sweetness, tragedy and wonder.' Stephen Fry

©2024 Adrian Bliss (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Historical World Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Royalty

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All stars
Most relevant  
I purchased this book as it was a 2 for 1 offer last week. Owing to the good reviews I decided to give it a try. I’m so pleased I did. I enjoyed it so much. I highly recommend it.

I hadn’t heard of Adrian Bliss

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Each ‘story’ is 20 minutes of average unfunny fiction followed by 2 minutes of the facts! One chapter an interview with the plague, another with a rodent. Not for me or anyone interested is stories about real people of the time.

Trying to be Horrible history for adults!

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This book is not bad, sort of like ‘Horrible Histories’ for adults. My only issue is that I was expecting factual history about lesser known characters, rather than a fictional account ‘based on’ historic events, most of which I was already familiar with. Anyway it was an entertaining listen and provided a few chuckles along the way.

Entertaining - but not what I was expecting

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Who knew all these nobodies from history could have such fascinating stories to tell. Who knows what I told gems there are out there waiting to be discovered.

if you're a history nut, and I'm not. This is a must read/listen to book. insightful as engaging.

Best history book out there.

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This book is hilarious, silly, interesting and really well made. I laughed out loud often. I really hope Adrian Bliss makes another one!

Fantasticly funny

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How soon can you bring out the next one Adrian??? Honestly, this book is fabulous and you are a truly funny guy! Had a great chuckle listening, and also learnt quite alot about history too which is always great.
Thank you so much ☆☆☆☆☆

AMAZING!! So funny and well read ☆☆☆☆☆

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No one else could have narrated this book as well... More, more please Adrian Bliss

The stories & facts

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I don’t normally like audiobooks narrated by the author, but this works well. Last chapter/story wasn’t great, but I very much enjoyed the rest

The narration is great

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I’ve been a fan of Adrian Bliss for a while, love his skits on Instagram. This book didn’t disappoint! It’s brilliantly daft, but also has some touching moments too. I really like the way it’s not a traditional type of history book ( which I also love, don’t get me wrong), with lots of facts and dates; a refreshing approach to history. I think it’s very cleverly done, and totally my humour, but if you want a traditional history book look elsewhere… or lighten up and give it a listen!

Brilliant

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Not my usual listen but I really enjoyed this! Great bedtime stories for adults! Hope he brings out a second book!

Loved this

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