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An Utterly Impartial History of Britain: (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge)
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I took a risk on this one (I was a bit put off by the jokey cover) and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not easily amused by books and to be honest I didn't find the "funny" bits in this one terribly funny either. In fact though, this is pretty much a straight book on history interspersed with funny comments and jokes. It's as if O'Farrell wrote a straight book first and inserted the funny bits later, so if the jokes don't work you can skip them and it doesn't really spoil it as a history book.
And as a "straight" history book it works very well indeed. In straightforward plain language, it is an excellent potted history of Britian telling you pretty much all you need to know (I've also ploughed thru Simon Schamaa's 3-volume History of Britain, an excellent work, but there's so much detail it's hard to get the main events in perspective sometimes). O'Farrell writes lightly and entertainingly, and he's blunt and irreverent in parts, but it's not all one big joke; he treats tragic events of more recent history with appropriate respect and seriousness.
All-in-all an enjoyable easy read that also imparts knowledge. If only we'd had books like this at school.
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If you're tired of the normal boring history blurb, then you'll love this audio book. Great accompaniment to my holiday whilst lounging by the pool
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John O'Farrell offers an accurate historical laugh a minute. By far the laziest and easiest way to understand our long pre WW2 history.
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This book does make you chuckle and is cleverly written but as far as being "Impartial" is concerned, is way off the mark.
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You have simply got to admire a book that condenses 2000 years of English history into less than 600 pages. That it also manages to weave the events together in the style of a page-turning novel makes it all the more satisfying and probably one the most enjoyable historical books I've ever read. A remarkable achievement.
O'Farrell has an excellent comic touch that really livens up the book. For example, he tells us that Charles I is listed in the Guinness book of records as being our shortest ever monarch, then adding ... "he was even shorter after they chopped off his head"! I particularly like the way that occasionally he freezes a particular historical situation and drags it into the modern era to either highlight the absurdities of modern-day life or to use it as an analogy to underline the historical significance of the moment. For example, blaming the Normans and William the Conqueror in particular, on the modern practice of serving wine only at garden parties to effect some sort of fake (Norman) sophistication when what's really needed is a cold glass of thirst-quenching (Anglo-Saxon) Hofmeister!
But, for the most part, O'Farrell provides a dispassionate description of the events and seeks to highlight the potentially comical elements of situations rather than providing any particular insightful analysis or subjective criticism. He is able to satirize some of the bloodiest events of this island's dark history with some razor-sharp one-liners and trust me, there is a lot of excellent source material here. This is particularly true in the early chapters of the book when he recounts the exploits of the, mostly ghastly, bunch of Kings and Queens that have served this country. However, there are some events where he highlights mistakes that were made that resulted in lives being needlessly lost. His description of the conditions on the Western front during World War I, the bravery of the Dunkirk rescuers in World War II and the horrors inflicted on the indigenous populations by the English Colonialists are told with a fair degree of poignancy.
As well as being hugely entertaining there is a great deal that can be learned from this book if you are a little hazy about certain parts of English history. But, this is no definitive historical tome. Instead, this is a book that attempts to revitalise a subject that has failed to garner the interest of many modern-day students and for that O'Farrell should be thanked. It certainly worked for me; I've already ordered his follow-up book!
 
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain: (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge)
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