W. C. Sellar (1898–1951)

Walter Carruthers Sellar and Robert Julian Yeatman’s 1066 And All That: A Memorable History of England comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings, and 2 Genuine Dates is a satirical take on how most remember their grammar school history lessons. Sellar and Yeatman rely heavily on puns to recreate the misremembered names and places, working on the philosophy that people only remember the more famous historical figures and wars, with the stuff in the show more middle fading away into the ether. They write, “History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember. All other history defeats itself. This is the only Memorable History of England, because all the History that you can remember is in this book, which is the result of years of research in golf-clubs, gun-rooms, green-rooms, etc.” (pg. xxxiii). Written during the interwar years, the book ends with the peace following World War I and thus has an unintended joke when Sellar and Yeatman write, “History came to a .” (pg. 115). While some of the humor is dated, those who enjoy wordplay and are familiar with the events that Sellar and Yeatman lampoon will find plenty to laugh at in this volume. Ned Sherrin’s introduction for this Folio Society edition helps to contextualize both the authors and their humor while offering other examples of their literary work. show less

A completely irreverent look at British history. It is smart and funny, though I know that many of the jokes were totally over-my-head and I consider myself something of an amateur Anglophile. The book is 75 years old and thus doesn't include the authors' take on World War II, though considering that they managed to poke-fun at all of the other wars that Britain had been involved with, I'm sure they would have found a way. Truly the authors were brilliant men.

However, this is NOT a book that show more everyone will get or understand WHY you find the objects of "The Pheasants Revolts" so hilarious. Consider yourself warned, if you read "1066 & All That" you WILL laugh yourself into stitches, so it is probably best not to read it out in public. show less

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/1066-and-all-that-by-w-c-sellar-and-r-j-yeatman/

A cheerful return to an old favourite: the spoof version of English history, cantering through two thousand years with a series of unlikely and yet very probable misreadings. There’s not much more to be said; some of the humour has dated, but a lot of it remains very funny.

1066 Ain't All That is a book written with a Punch back when England was still Top Nation. W. C. Seller, a frustrated toilet salesman, and @YEETman, a poster of funny memes, decided to write a book that nationally lampooned the grandiose history times of the tome. This is done mostly by indulging in nonsense verse and deliberately grabbing the wrong side of the stick.

This is mostly a Good Thing, but the genuine satire is limited. The joke wears thin at times and becomes, if not a Bad Thing, show more then merely a Thing. That said, I did enjoy the clever Test Paper parts, on which I scored full marks. The book was rather influenza in its time, but its time was in History and History has now ended. show less