Four books in one is a huge stretch! There are four stories and I think there was room for another couple. That said, the four stories were really good and bring history to life. I like the talking points at the end of each story, they'd be great for a classroom activity or a family discussion.

Each story is based on an historical real-life event. After each story, the facts as we know them are presented so you can see the "padding".

I really enjoyed this. I loved the selection of stories told through the Tudor reign, I thought it was quite broad for such a small collection.

As with the other books in the Terrible True Tales series, I love how Deary makes these books engaging by adding tasks/activities that relate to each story. This helps in bringing history to life, helping kids to put themselves in the shoes of someone who lived hundreds of years before them.

I like how each story is fiction mixed with non-fiction, and at the end of each one Deary dives deeper into the facts that each story has told (or not told). I love how he plays around with history — bringing to children how history can be biased, or how there are many stories that we will never know if they are real or not. It’s fascinating!

Terry Deary is an author loved by many kids, and most children are fully aware of the Horrible Histories series, and will tell you all about them, given half the chance. As a teacher, it was a constant uphill battle to make history more interesting than Horrible Histories, and in the end you just lean into it.
This book is four stories in one, with some added information at the end of each story, and I really like the format. The stories are told from the perspective of children or young people, but they include real historical characters. It was gloriously dark in places, and didn’t shy away from difficult topics of class, power and persecution. There are historical facts woven into the narrative, and this is done very subtly, not taking us from the story at all.
The only downside for me was very much an adult issue. I had heard of some of the characters as real people, and had to take the stories at face value rather than allowing myself to stop and get sidetracked with side quest searching. I’m glad I resisted though, because the historical information at the end of each tale did the job beautifully.
A huge win in terms of illustrations also - Helen Flook definitely understood the assignment.
Overall, a funny, interesting and engaging book that many, many children will love.

This book wasn’t as “terrible” as the other horrible history book I’ve read. While it covered very limited stories rather than a broad spectrum of information, it was still a very fun book. I particularly liked that at the end of each story, it ran through the factual history of the event.

3.75 🌟

Horrible History Books

📚 a fantastic chapter book for a great range of readers
🌟beautiful illustrations that pair with the information on the page
❤️ four stories small chapter books within the single book
📕 the details inside the book such as the non-fiction afterwards and the reflection activities is a great addition
🤩The chapters are of a good length that challenge the reader but do not over stretch them.


This book would be really beneficial to support the learning within history and could be used to show secondary sources, bias and exaggerated truth mixed with facts. The fictional and nonfiction al mix is great and really supports the reader in their progress through the book. A staple for every class library!!

The Tudor Era is a fascinating era of history. We have deceptions, fools, kings, queens and royalty and dastardly plots (and the odd beheading) to fire up any young readers imagination. It’s the perfect foot in the door to learn about history and ignite a passion in children which is why I think these books are so brilliant!

They bring a little bit of history to life and in a way that’s fun and engaging. There’s four story’s included, each with a different theme, king, queen or event in history.

Each chapter is followed by a little nonfiction fact file to the story and a fab little interactive addition such as a recipe you can make, a game to play or story ideas to write.

And I can’t forget to mention the wonderful illustrations too on every page. It’s well worth a read (to yourself or any little ones you may have!).