If you enjoy satire and wordplay along with a fairly erudite exploration of English history, this book is worth a look. When I selected it,I didn’t realise it was published originally in the 1850s and this is a modern reprint with an ebook and hardback edition. The ebook has line illustrations; I expect the full illustrations in paper format are much better and more detailed. The introduction by Stephen Basdeo doesn’t really add much; clearly it’s a way to introduce this reprint sand bring attention to a long forgotten tome.

I suspect this title will have a niche audience; history buffs may not welcome the satire and wordplay and it’s quite complex as a peek into social history. The author, as I understand it, was poking fun at the Establishment of the day, cleverly disguised as a book about English history. I have to confess, I haven’t read it from cover to cover, but I’ve completed the early chapters and dipped in to the rest. It can easily be read piecemeal and for that reason, I think it’s a book I’d enjoy best in hard copy. Once you get into the style and rhythm of the writing, some of it is uproariously funny. In one section, he comments on the Romans arriving on Anglesey which was known as Mona. He goes on to say that it was aptly named as the inhabitants were constantly moaning and complained about everything, not least the invasion. Every page has hidden gems of humour, some truly laugh out loud, but it’s also an accurate walk through history along with a poke at stuffy politicians, justice of the day and scholars. It’s clever and worth a look and overall, I’ve enjoyed it.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

A Comic History of England, by Gilbert Abbot á Beckett and edited by Stephen Basdeo, is a reprint of a text from the mid-1800s that takes a more humorous approach to history. Though more grounded in facts than Philomena Cunk's contemporary humor (at least as far as her wonderful questions and misinterpretations) it did seem to me like a distant ancestor.

I will say that many readers will have to read carefully because we don't use the same words in the same ways anymore, so some of the humor will come from either having read a lot of Victorian era literature or having studied the period. That said, the humor does still come through. The other stumbling block may primarily be for those of us less familiar with English history (I am from the US {please, no jokes about that, this is a difficult time here]). The great part of it is that my interest in some of the events and periods piqued my interest and I looked up a lot of fascinating information.

Once you become comfortable with the writing and the outline of the history, the fun is often in the biting, almost mocking, tone of some of the explanations. In that respect it is almost like a humorous version of the "People's History of..." books that have been around a while.

While i would recommend this to any reader with an interest in history told with a large portion of irreverence, I think those with some background in Victorian literature and history will get the most out of it with the least effort. If you're willing to put in the effort, you'll be happy you engaged with the book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

My biggest issue about this book has nothing at all to do with the content. How does it not count as plagiarism for the person who edited the book to put "by Stephen Basedo" on the front cover? I guess because he corrects it on the first pages, saying the actual author is Gilbert a Beckett, who wrote between 1846 and 1847, that makes it okay? I hate when do this.

As for the actual book, it is a great condensed history of England. Not really funny, though. I am sure British people in the 1850s thought it was hilarious (or maybe it was just funny to the author). Either way, it is a great non-fiction book if you are looking for a history of England.

Rating as follows: minus a star because it says comic history and just not funny. Minus a full star because it is just wrong to put your name as the author on the front cover if you are not. The original book is listed on goodreads and will be rating that a 4 star.

a humorous history of England written in a more victorian style of writing. The writing style made this book a little hard for me to read but I could see others enjoying this style.