1066 and All That

Sellar and Yeatman's masterpiece is undoubtedly the funniest history book ever written. Indeed, it actually gets funnier the more 'serious' history you know; while some of the jokes are obvious others are quite sophisticated and require background knowledge to be fully appreciated. I enjoyed it as a teenager (twenty years ago) but now I can appreciate it for the work of genius that it really is. I knocked off half a star for Steven Appleby's rather laboured cartoons; I usually enjoy his work but the modern illustrations really don't bear comparison with Reynold's wonderful originals.

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 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 show more 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

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, 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.

I picked this up in Oxfam a couple of weeks ago. I have read it before, a long time ago, and all I could remember was that the Cavaliers were wrong but romantic, while the Roundheads were right but repulsive.
This book contains all the memorable bits of English history, from the time that we were Top Nation; somewhat garbled and full of jokes, puns ("There was in Queen Victoria's reign a famous inventor and poet called Oscar Wilde who wrote very well but behaved very beardsley;") and creative misspellings. This is a very amusing book, which is a Good Thing.

Sellar and Yeatman's classic retelling of history is quite clearly a Good Thing. Written in 1930, and steeped in the subversive irreverence of British humour, the book expertly and hilariously parodies the process of writing history. From the first date in English history (55 B.C.), to the point at which history comes to a . (1918), Seller and Yeatman insist that history is "not what you thought. It is what you can remember" and ably set out to prove it with a litany of schoolboy howlers and almost- plausible assertions. 1066 and All That is crammed with ridiculous reinventions of how history is taught; insisting that all historical events are either a "Good Thing" or a "Bad Thing", lampooning the nationalism of teaching history by show more suggesting that the focus is always to make Britain appear "Top Nation", and separating each section with exam papers which seem almost, but not quite as stupid as the real ones (including the famous instruction "Do not on any account attempt to write on both sides of the paper at once"). A precursor to the incredibly popular "Horrible Histories" series, this is a must for anyone who wants to take history seriously or otherwise 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 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.

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 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.