Instead he focuses his narrative around their unusual personal habits, idiosyncrasies and harmless traits this was a lot of fun to read, despite not being a david mitchell fan, i thought i would give it a go - i liked the premise and it was an area where I had only basic knowledge. Professor at the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts Perhaps the most undignified English king, though, was John. The extent of his indignity was a surprise to me when I was researching my new book about the kings and queens of England, because posterity has focused so much on how bad he was – bad as in dastardly. And he was dastardly – dishonest and brutal. During the reign of his predecessor, his elder brother Richard the Lionheart, he tried to steal the throne by pretending Richard was dead. Once Richard had genuinely died, he murdered the only rival claimant, his nephew Arthur, possibly with his bare hands, which feels like unnecessary attention to detail.

Mitchell clearly knows his history, with a book that owes as much to Monty Python as it does to Simon Schama’ ANDREW MARR, BROADCASTER History is one bloody thing after another; David Mitchell is on a mission to hammer this point home, with his trademark wit and angry logic. He takes us from before William the conquer, to Elizabeth I, in 30-odd short chapters, one for each king and Queen of England. In doing so satirising both the absurdity of the notion of monarchy, and the stuffy inaccessibility of accedemic historians. Indeed, the book is at its most enjoyable when the rapier of Mitchell's lacerating wit is unfurled against said historians and their navel gazing debates. A funny book about a serious subject, UNRULY is for anyone who has ever wondered how we got here - and who is to blame. The book was very well researched and was written in a mostly engaging way, some of the info is complicated if you are not already into medieval history but this book made it easy to read and understand. It seems like he has researched the topic well. He also draws some interesting conclusions about the time. All in all this was a five star experience of a book to read Just to repeat, David Mitchell is a comedian and an actor, NOT a historian* and as the title suggests, this is a ridiculous book, NOT a serious one. The stories he is telling us -starting from nonexistent, mythical King Arthur and finishing with Elizabeth I - are still mostly accurate, but as they are viewed through the lens of the 21st century, they are also out-of-context, incomplete and incongruous. It's a given. Mitchell is openly judgmental, uses the benefit of hindsight mercilessly and serves it all with lots of scathing humour and swearing.

Bombs the equivalent to 2 Little Boys were dropped by the Israel down the Gaza killing tens of thousand of Palestinian civilians ! In the end, I found the book educational and entertaining. But I am unlikely to retain the astounding number of factoids about each reign of the history he covers (He stops at the death of Elizabeth I. Perhaps the pandemic was over before he could bring us up to date.)

Discover who we are and how we got here this holiday season in comedian David Mitchell's UNRULY: A History of England's Kings and Queens - a thoughtful, funny exploration of the entitled and enthroned. Clever, amusing, gloriously bizarre and razor sharp.Mitchell [is] a funny man and a skilled historian.”― The TimesWho knew a history of England’s rulers could be this hilarious? A brilliantly entertaining romp through monarchs’ i

You may be thinking that there’s more about James Bond in this extract than you expected. Sorry. But my point is that giving Bond a sad and lonely end casts a shadow over every other moment in his life that we’ve seen portrayed. Everything Bond undergoes in every other film – every moment of suavity, action, humour or seduction – is happening to a man destined to die young, heartbroken and alone. CLEVER, AMUSING, GLORIOUSLY BIZARRE AND RAZOR SHARP. MITCHELL – A FUNNY MAN AND A SKILLED HISTORIAN – TELLS STORIES THAT ARE INTERESTING AND FUN. HERE IS HORRIBLE HISTORIES FOR GROWNUPS’ GERARD DEGROOT, THE TIMESDavid Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is one half of the comedic duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo starred in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show in which Mitchell plays Mark Corrigan. The show received a BAFTA and won three British Comedy Awards, while Mitchell won the award for Best Comedy Performance in 2009. The duo have written and starred in several sketch shows including The Mitchell and Webb Situation, That Mitchell and Webb Sound and most recently That Mitchell and Webb Look. Mitchell and Webb also star in the UK version of Apple's Get a Mac advertisement campaign. Their first film, Magicians, in which Mitchell plays traditional magician Harry, was released on 18 May 2007. I wasn't expecting or hoping that this would be a serious book after all i have seen DM on the box i thought i was in for an account steaming with the wry sarcasm we know him for, somthing along the lines of Terry Jones fabulous history books of perhaps the humor of the horrible history's. How this happened, who it happened to and why the hell it matters in twenty-first-century Britain are all questions David answers with brilliance, wit and the full erudition of a man who once studied history - and is damned if he'll let it off the hook for the mess it's made of everything.