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Thoroughly enjoyed this humorous look at the kings and queens of England up until the end of the Tudors. It‘s a solid bit of history - Mitchell has a degree in history as well as his career as a comedian (bright spark isn‘t he?). I learnt a lot and had plenty of laughs. I wished some parts were longer so i might start differentiating a few more Henrys and Edwards - but it‘s a long period to cover and he‘s done a great job.

26-30 Oct 24 (audiobook)
An entertaining look at the history of the Kings (and few Queens) of Britain from the fictional King Arthur through to Queen Elizabeth I. At times I found Mitchell‘s humour a little cringeworthy, but this is informative if irreverent history for those who know the names (not difficult with so many Henrys and Williams) but little detail. Did nothing to improve my view of the current monarchy or their presumed right to rule.

This was funny, scary, informative, extensive! So much history & shared in a contemporary hilarious way! Great narration! I‘d recommend this book if you‘re interested in the dark & yet interesting times of the royals and their origin story. Ruthless! Fun!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Could be I just don‘t know enough about British history? However the author is a comedian and still could have made it relatable and funny. I kept thinking once the kings and queens become more familiar I‘ll relate. I never got there.

This was very well done. I like David Mitchell‘s droll humour and he writes well about the subject. No endnoting, but the further reading list contains some good sources. I ended up buying the audio immediately afterward with a spare Libro.fm credit 😄

If you find history is often dry but you‘re interested in learning more in a different way, look no further than this history book written by a comedian! Yup, correct historical information presented in a way you will snort-laugh your way through (at least I did). This book is a hoot!

If Bill Bryson used cuss words and wrote a book about the British monarchy, this would be it. Funny, irreverent, and I afraid of finding the hilarity in a whole system that claims a gold hat makes you a ruler. The book flits between the facts of each monarch but doesn‘t go too deep with any of them. Come for the history, stay for the humor.

I found this witty and irreverent commentary on the history of the British monarchy really refreshing and fun. I enjoyed the healthy mix of well researched and interesting historical fact mixed with Mitchell's clever, cutting humour. Being an Irish person I took particular pleasure in the absolute buffonery of it all! 😆

Next up . . . Not sure why this Scottish person wants to read this but I'm looking forward to it

There‘s an unexpected amount of honest-to-goodness history in this book written by an English comedian. I expected more of a “royals behaving badly” with rude jokes and sarcastic asides. There‘s some of that, but there‘s also real scholarship. Some of the snark felt out of place and Mitchell went on random rants about modern science deniers and governments, but overall, I enjoyed this brief history of English monarchs.