Unruly

Unruly is part Horrible Histories part jolly romp guided by Alan Bennett. Perhaps this is how history should be done: not by patient scholars, but by free-swearing actor-comedians cramming more ideas and jokes into their pages than many professionals have committed to print in their careers. * Guardian *Full of jokes and canny insights, 100 per cent sparkier and more revernt than your school textbooks * I *An enjoyable, rollicking read, definitely not a conventional history book * Sunday Times *I don’t think anyone other than David Mitchell could have written this book. It’s clever, funny and makes you think quite differently about history we thought we knew * DAN SNOW, HISTORIAN AND BROADCASTER *By turns fascinating and funny - there is a jewel of an insight or a refreshing blast of clarifying wit on every page. David brings a delightfully contrary and hilariously cantankerous eye to the history of the English Monarchy. Informative, illuminating and very very funny * JESSE ARMSTRONG, CREATOR OF SUCCESSION AND PEEP SHOW *Mitchell clearly knows his history, with a book that owes as much to Monty Python as it does to Simon Schama * Andrew Marr *A Peep Show history of England * Sunday Times *Clever, amusing, gloriously bizarre and razor sharp. Mitchell - a funny man and a skilled historian - tells stories that are interesting and fun. His rants alone are worth the price of the book. And amid all the jokes and delightful nonsense, Mitchell sneaks in a serious message about English identity. Here is Horrible Histories for grownups - stripped of their finery, devoid of reverence, UNRULY’s monarchs emerge as mortals with ordinary flaws. I learnt a lot and laughed a lot, and people who have never before picked up a history book will read and enjoy this one. That’s an accomplishment * Gerard DeGroot, The Times *Chatty, irreverent and liberally sprinkled with gags and opinions. Horrible Histories with added swearing. * Guardian *I can’t recommend this book enough. Very funny and interesting, it is above all a proper work of history * Charlie Higson *

David Mitchell is a BAFTA Award-winning actor, writer and comedian who has starred in many of the UK’s best-loved TV shows, including Peep Show, That Mitchell and Webb Look and Upstart Crow. He is a team captain on Would I Lie to You? (BBC One), the host of The Unbelievable Truth on Radio 4 and one of the Observer’s most popular columnists. Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens is his first history book.

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