When I was younger, I loved the Horrible Histories books (and the TV show; sometimes I still catch myself singing "stupid deaths, stupid deaths, they're funny 'coz they're true..."). They were, I guess, pretty remarkable in their ability to get multiple generations of children interested in history through their silly humour — and now, Arran Lomas is here with Stick a Flag in It, which reads like Horrible Histories for adults.

As I read, Lomas' sarcastic tone regularly made me snort. The author has a particular (and hilarious) hatred for King John and Henry VI, and this book is filled with witticisms like this one in the midst of a story of how Richard the Lionheart was killed as a result of an infected crossbow bolt wound to the shoulder:

"The only cure for gangrene was to amputate the infected limb. It's rather tricky, however, to amputate a man's shoulder without also amputating his head, which usually hampers the patient's chances of recovery."

Reading Stick a Flag in It made me realise just how much I didn't know. For instance, I knew that King John agreed to the Magna Carta in 1215, but I didn't know how generally bad a king he was or that he set about trying to get it overturned immediately after. I knew that, according to legend, Edward II was murdered with a red hot poker shoved in a very unfortunate place, but I had no clue that he was in all likelihood gay and that the poker story was probably just homophobic propaganda. I knew nothing of Eleanor of Aquitaine or She-Wolf Isabella of France, and I was surprised by just how much Margaret Beaufort schemed to put Henry Tudor on the throne. On a more bizarre note, I knew that it was fashionable for people in the Middle Ages to wear shoes with long toes, but I was startled to learn that some of these toes were so long that they had to be tied to the wearer's shin to enable them to walk!

I did find the latter half of the book not as funny or as interesting as the first, but I suspect that's entirely on me! There were sections on Francis Drake, piracy and assorted seafarers, the British love for tea, and the Industrial Revolution, which will no doubt appeal to most other readers, but my preferred eras to learn about are those prior to, say, the 1600s. There are also no citations, which I would have appreciated in order to make sure that I'm not about to go around spreading false facts about pineapples or long-toed shoes.

Nonetheless, this is a worthy read (or perhaps Christmas gift?) for any fan of history and humour, perfect to read from cover to cover or to dip into now and then!

A must read! It's so refreshing to find an accurate, well researched history book, delivered in such a way as to be informative as well as humorous.. I also appreciated the fact this covers such a vast period of time, going from 1066 all the way up to world war 1, showing how one event leads to another rather than fragmenting the tales. I think this would be an excellent gift to any history lovers wanting a fun book, or teenagers who dislike history as a way to educate them without them even knowing it. I'd class this as along a similar line to the Terry Deary books, and of an equal standard, so kudos to the author