An inspirational rollercoaster of a read!
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As other reviewers have pointed out, if you're actually looking for a detailed, genuinely "impartial" history of Britain then I'd recommend looking elsewhere (a few clues about the nature and narrative of this book can be found on the inside cover before you've even started). I was simply looking for an interesting read and was more than happy to be taken along for the ride - which had me gasping out loud, laughing and even crying at times. I loved the informative, passionate and humorous style of the book and the very human descriptions of the "characters" and the situations they found themselves in. I feel as though I've learned a lot (I feel compelled to point out that I'm not a complete simpleton, it's just that history wasn't exactly my strong point at school...) and now I've finished I've been inspired to do some further reading on some of the fascinating people and events I've encountered here.
So in my opinion, a fantastic read and well worth the purchase.
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As a comedy book 4 stars, as a history book 2 stars. Average 3 stars!
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Here is the perfect, ahem, toilet book. Easy to pick up and put down, it lightly dusts over the details of British history to put forward the extremely partial views of the author on some subjects - especially when they can be connected to issues today, such as immigration. One annoyance in this is that although there is a less than lengthy bibliography at the end, many statements we are meant to take as facts are left unaccredited. As an example Britain before 1066 had "...a well developed legal system, effective regional government, good trade networks, strong coinage and thriving churches and monasteries" Did it? You won't find any evidence to back this up in here I'm afraid. And there are lots of bald facts like this produced with no specific evidence, or clues as to where we might want to go to see the evidence. But am I missing the point of this book?
As a laugh out loud comedy book this is really rather good. Some of the "jokes" are sub pythonesque and hit you over the head like a hammer. For example, one of the first landlords to be ostracized by his tenants after new land laws were brought in was a Captain Boycott. As the author says, "...this could be a whole new word in the English language" "Yes, if landlords evict anyone we'll captain them" OK perhaps you had to be there, but there are many, better examples of this sort of humour in this book.
One thing worth noting is that the humour does seem to relent as the book (and history) goes on. Perhaps more recent events aren't as rich pickings for this sort of thing as the Dark Ages, but nevertheless, the author's partiality does come out when we get nearer the 20th Century so there is definite irony in the title.
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Oh dear.
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A nice idea trying to combine humour and history, and when I read the quick and funny synopsis in the front of the book I decided I had to buy it, loving as I do any opportunity to read any take on British history.
I wish now that I hadn't wasted my money. Honestly this book feels like it has been written with the help of David Brent.
It started off with the Romans (like all good British history books should) and I was further pleased by the smattering of quips and jokes over the first few pages, however, things started to head rapidly downhill from here as I realised the quips were simply not going to let up, every single fact or observation was immeadiately followed by a "funny" tagline, comment or jibe. If you dictated a history text to David Brent and asked him to throw in a few of his own comments I don't doubt it would have turned out exactly like this book, by the time I got to what the Jutes were up to in the Dark Ages I was utterly exhasperated and had to stop reading, I don't expect that I have the will to find out what riotously hilarious event happened at the Battle of Hastings...
I award this one star and not none based on the fact that I genuinely do appreciate the effort to write about British history in a way that aims to make it more accessible, it's just such a shame that it bombed so badly, it is afterall possible to write history in an amusing and informal manner while getting to the heart of the matter as Boris Johnson proves in his book The Dream of Rome...perhaps O'Farrell could take a few pointers should he ever try to do something like this again.
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Accurate enough. Probably.
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Mr O'Farrell's political underpinnings come through distinctly in this engaging and mildly entertaining skimming of British (and by his own admission mainly English) history. Is it accurate? I don't know. The whole reason I read it is because I didn't do much history during my education, save for the narrow threads that make the standard curriculum. If you're not a Daily Mail reader you will be able to put up with the occasional self indulgent political views and the general coverage will give you many talking points to impress the regulars down the pub (and I dare say answer a few more pub quiz questions). The book also draws many parallels between historic injustices and how in many ways, we really haven't made much of a move forward.
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An entertaining and useful read
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This book fills a gap in the market for history for those of us who went to a state comprehensive school in the UK, where teaching history was deemed to be a form of oppression and thus was avoided (except where it became a useful tool of social engineering).
The book skims across every major phase, event, monarch and prime minister to deliver a bullet-point summary of the key political factors of the time, rationalising and characterising the logic of the day. It then rolls the event into the next event or decision.
O'Farrell's characterisations and asides rest upon plenty of references to contemporary British cultural life. A Briton will get most of the humour in this book; a Frenchman would appreciate most of it (but might take exception to some of the characterisations of French positions, although I think the characterisations are balanced and probably about right). An American wouldn't get any of this humour at all; an "Irish" America will also except the presentation of the Irish home rule matter.
The book finishes its story in 1946, then runs into 4 pages of bibliography.
Accordingly, this book is dangerous. Those of us who can spot the humour won't take the book literally. It will educate us as to why we have today's public policy. Those of us who cannot spot the humour will probably take the book literally and come to the wrong perception about British history (and thus today's public policy).
The book is an extract of the key facts, perceptions, decisions and accidents that culminate in how history was lived at the time. If you want to read a purely factual encyclopedia of British history - complete with revisionism, counterfactual rubbish and ideology - this book is inappropriate.
I loved this book. It resonates with my limited understanding of British history, painting broad strong colours where there was only black-and-white (because as Generation X knows, everything before 1970 was in black-in-white).
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