Horrible Histories Wiki
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'''''Horrible Histories''''' is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholastic_%28publisher%29 Scholastic]. They are designed to get children interested in history by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms. The books are written by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Deary Terry Deary], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Hepplewhite Peter Hepplewhite] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Tonge&action=edit&redlink=1 Neil Tonge] and illustrated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Brown_%28artist%29 Martin Brown], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Phillips Mike Phillips] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Reeve Philip Reeve].
In late 2003 Terry Deary released the Horrible Histories Magazine Collection and in 2005 some of the titles in the series were released as free audiobooks as part of a promotion with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_cereal breakfast cereal]. Originally planned to be 60, the series was continued with an additional 20.
 
==Issues==
 
   
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The first books in the series, ''The Terrible Tudors'' and ''The Awesome Egyptians'', were published in June 1993.
Here is a list of the 80 Issues of the magazine in the order in which they are received:
 
#The Gory Glory of Rome – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire Roman Empire])
 
#The Terrible Tudors: Horrible Henry – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty Tudor] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_of_England King Henry VIII])
 
#The Awesome Egyptians: Mummy Mania – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian Ancient Egyptian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummies Mummies])
 
#The Vile Victorians: Cruel Britannia – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom Victorian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia Britannia])
 
#The Measly Middle Ages – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages])
 
#The Slimy Stuarts: Bombs & Broomsticks – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Stuart Stuart] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes Guy Fawkes])
 
#The Groovy Greeks: Hits 'n' Myths – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Mythology Greek Mythology])
 
#The Frightful First World War – (World War I)
 
#The Angry Aztecs – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztecs Aztecs])
 
#The Bizarre Tsars – (Russian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsars Tsars])
 
#The Vicious Vikings – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings Vikings])
 
#The Terrible Tudors: Misery Mary – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty Tudor] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England Queen Mary])
 
#The Savage Stone Age – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Age Stone Age])
 
#Rotten Romans on the Rampage – (The end of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic Roman Republic])
 
#The Awesome Egyptians: Fabulous Pharaohs – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Ancient Egyptian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharaohs Pharaohs])
 
#The Gorgeous Georgians: Heroes & Villains – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_period_in_British_history Georgian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policemen Policemen] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal Criminals])
 
#The Vile Victorians: Crime & Punishment – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom Victorian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime Crime and Punishment])
 
#The Wicked Wild West – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West Wild West])
 
#The Frightfully Fabulous French – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France])
 
#The Slimy Stuarts: Burning Boils – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Stuart Stuart] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases Diseases])
 
#The Woeful Second World War – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War 2])
 
#The Terrible Tudors: Bad Bess – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty Tudor] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan Elizabethan] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_the_First Queen Elizabeth the First])
 
#The Extraordinary Explorers – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration Explorers])
 
#The Trendy 20s & The Dirty 30s – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Twenties Roaring Twenties] in 1920s and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression Great Depression] in 1930s)
 
#America & its Scurvy Settlers – (America in 1600s and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States American Indians])
 
#The Incredible Incas – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incas Incas])
 
#The Smashing Saxons – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons Saxons])
 
#Rotten Romans in Britain – (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_conquest_of_Britain Roman conquest of Britain] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Britain Roman Britain])
 
#The Vile Victorians: Foul Factories – (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_of_the_United_Kingdom Victorian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Agricultural_Revolution Industrial Revolution])
 
#The Groovy Greeks: Alexander the Not-So-Great – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece Greek] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great Alexander the Great])
 
#The Slimy Stuarts: Charlie's Gets the Chop – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Stuart Stuart] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_England Charles I])
 
#The Marauding Mongols – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongols Mongols] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia Mongolia])
 
#Rowdy Revolutions: France – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution French Revolution])
 
#The Awful Ancients – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_History Ancient Civilizations])
 
#The Sizzling Spanish – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language Spanish])
 
#The Beastly Barbarians – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarians Barbarians])
 
#The Stormin' Normans – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans Normans])
 
#Ruthless Richard & the Useless Yorks – (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses Wars of the Roses])
 
#The Blitzed Brits – (Britain's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz Blitz] in the Second World War)
 
#Rowdy Revolutions: America – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War American Revolutionary War])
 
#The Silly Chilly Cold War – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War Cold War])
 
#The Cut-Throat Celts – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts Celts])
 
#The Ingenious Italians – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Renaissance Italian Renaissance])
 
#Nasty Knights & Crazy Crusaders – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights Knights] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusade Crusaders])
 
#The Gorgeous Georgians vs. Nasty Napoleon – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Wars Napoleonic Wars])
 
#The Slicing Samurai – (Japanese [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai Samurai])
 
#The 'Orrible Ottomans – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire Ottoman Empire])
 
#Plundering Pirates – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates Pirates])
 
#Rowdy Revolutions: Russia – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution_of_1917 Russian Communist Revolution])
 
#The Jumbled Germans – (Germany)
 
#The Amazing Africans – (Africa)
 
#The Incredible Indians – (India)
 
#Revolting Rebellions: Europe – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Revolution European Revolutions] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic Republic])
 
#The Cheeky Chinese – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinese Chinese])
 
#America's Very Uncivil War – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Civil_War US Civil War])
 
#The Terrific Pacific – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islands Pacific Islands])
 
#The Irate Irish – (Ireland)
 
#Revolting Rebellions: South America – (South America)
 
#Cruel Colonials – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Colonies British Colonies])
 
#The Awesome Aussies – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Australia_%281788-1850%29 Australian Colonists] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians Aborigines])
 
#The Scary Scots: Woad Warriors – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_People Scots] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts Picts])
 
#Even More Rotten Romans – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire Roman Empire] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Emperors Emperors])
 
#Awful England – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Britain Pre-Norman England])
 
#The Super South Africans -([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa South Africa])
 
#The Shifty 50s – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50s The 50s]).
 
#Even More Extraordinary Explorers – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration Explorers] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery The Age of Discovery])
 
#The Amazing Americans – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_United_States_%281865%E2%80%931918%29 Late 19th and early 20th century United States])
 
#The Terrifying Trojans – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy Trojans] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Troy City of Troy])
 
#The Crazy Caribbean -([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery European Explorers], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonists Colonists] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean Native Caribbeans])
 
#Even More Vile Victorians – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Era Victorian Era])
 
#The Wild Welsh – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales Wales])
 
#The Shocking 60s – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60s The 60s])
 
#The Scary Scots: Tartan Terrors – (Pre-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707 Act of Union] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland Scotland])
 
#The Busy Byzantines – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire Byzantine Empire])
 
#The Elegant Edwardians – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwardian_Era Edwardian Era])
 
#Potty Portugal – (Portugal)
 
#The Awesome North American Indians – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Indians North American Indians] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Wars Indian Wars])
 
#The Polar Brrrs – (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Pole North] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole South Poles])
 
#Awful England Again – (British Famous People)
 
#Rotten Round-Up – (The Largest, Biggest and the Best)
 
Each issue came with small cards depicting historic people, places, events and customs as well as a collection of timelines. The first 60 issues came with timelines each showing an era of human history, while the later 20 had timelines showing the history of themes such as fashion, art and science.
 
   
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In May 2007, eight of the original series were relaunched with new covers and additional content. The remainder have been republished in the new format, which was completed on January 2009.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-diary_0-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-diary-0 [1]]</sup> See [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#Book_makeover Book makeover]. With approximately 70 books in the series, ''Horrible Histories'' have had 10 million copies sold in the UK, 20 million worldwide, translations to 31 languages, and are offered in 37 countries.
There have also been three "special" magazines in the series.
 
   
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The books have tie-ins with newspapers such as ''The Telegraph''<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google1_1-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google1-1 [2]]</sup>, as well as audio-book tie-ins with Kellogs breakfast cereals Cocopops, Frosties and Corn Flakes. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-2 [3]]</sup>
They are:
 
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==Book categories==
*S1. Horrible Christmas – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas Christmas])
 
  +
Though all of the Horrible History books are part of the same series, they are split up into many sub-series. Here are some of them:
*S2. Cruel Crimes and Painful Punishments – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes Crimes] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punishments Punishments])
 
  +
===Original books===
*S3. Cruel Kings and Mean Queens – ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_monarchs_family_tree English Monarchs])
 
  +
These are the original books that pioneered the Horrible phenomenon:
The collection will not be relaunched in the UK in September 2009 Due To Low Trial Sales.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-diary_0-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-diary-0 [1]] </sup>
 
  +
*''The Angry Aztecs'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztecs Aztecs])
==Gallery==
 
  +
*''The Awesome Egyptians'' (1993) - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Ancient Egypt])
<gallery captionalign="left">
 
  +
*''The Awful Egyptians'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt Ancient Egypt])
Hhm01thegorygloryofrome2.jpg|Magazine 1:The Gory Glory of Rome
 
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*''The Barmy British Empire'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire British Empire])
619lfmT8QdL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 2:The Terrible Tudors Horrible Henry
 
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*''The Blitzed Brits'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz The Blitz])
283px-Hh3a.jpg|Magazine 3:The Awesome Egyptians Mummy Mania
 
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*''The Cut Throat Celts'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts Celts])
610YHjDZ7kL._SS500_.jpg|Magazine 4:The Vile Victorians Cruel Britannia
 
  +
*''The Frightful First World War'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I World War I])
51WIJSMS7iL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 5:The Measly Middle Ages
 
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*''The Gorgeous Georgians'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_era Georgian era])
466px-Hh6a.jpg|Magazine 6:The Slimy Stuarts Bombs & Broomsticks
 
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*''The Groovy Greeks'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece Ancient Greece])
51NTgoCPrkL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 7:The Groovy Greeks Hits 'N' Myths
 
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*''The Incredible Incas'' - (2000) ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahuantinsuyu Tahuantinsuyu] - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Empire The Inca Empire])
61H5Jr0Fq1L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 8:The Frightful First World War
 
  +
*''The Measly Middle Ages'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages])
468px-Hh9a.jpg|Magazine 9:The Angry Aztecs
 
  +
*''The Rotten Romans'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome Ancient Rome])
462px-Hh10a.jpg|Magazine 10:The Bizarre Tsars
 
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*''The Ruthless Romans'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome Ancient Rome])
465px-Hh11a.jpg|Magazine 11:The Vicious Vikings
 
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*''The Savage Stone Age'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_age Stone age])
464px-Hh12a.jpg|Magazine 12:The Terrible Tudors Misery Mary
 
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*''The Slimy Stuarts'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Stuart House of Stuart])
465px-Hh13a.jpg|Magazine 13:The Savage Stone Age
 
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*''The Smashing Saxons'' (2000) - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons Saxons])
471px-Hh14a.jpg|Magazine 14:Rotten Romans On The Rampage
 
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*''The Stormin' Normans'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans Normans])
468px-Hh15a.jpg|Magazine 15:The Awesome Egyptians Fabulous Pharaohs
 
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*''The Terrible Tudors'' (1993) - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty Tudor dynasty])
465px-Hh16a.jpg|Magazine16:The Gergeous Gergians Heroes & Villains
 
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*''Terrifying Tudors'' (formerly ''Even More Terrible Tudors'') - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_dynasty Tudor dynasty])
467px-Hh17a.jpg|Magazine17:The Vile Victorians Crime and Punishment
 
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*''The Vicious Vikings'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings Vikings])
466px-Hh18a.jpg|Magazine 18:The Wicked Wild West
 
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*''The Vile Victorians'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era Victorian era])
467px-Hh19a.jpg|Magazine 19:The Frightfully Fabulous French
 
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*''The Villainous Victorians'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era Victorian era])
61ig4f5e-2L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 20:the Slimy Stuarts Burning Boils
 
612EdsvlrwL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 21:The Woeful Second World War
+
*''The Woeful Second World War'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War II])
  +
===[[File:Aztects_and_incas_HH_old.jpg|thumb|left|237px|Former cover of Two in One book The Angry Aztecs and The Incredible Incas]]Horrible Histories Two in One[[File:Aztects_and_incas_HH_new.jpg|thumb|Current cover of Two in One book Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas]]===
61hYZ5ciLnL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 22:The Terrible Tudors Bad Bess
 
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There are also the 'Two Horrible Books in One' versions
61XT4hhsWfL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 23:The Extraordinary Explorers
 
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*''The Frightful First World War and The Woeful Second World War''
61GQ7gmahWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 24:The Trendy 20s & Dirty 30s
 
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*''The Groovy Greeks and the Rotten Romans''
51bD5D7ia1L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 25:America And its Scurfy Settlers
 
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*''Gorgeous Georgians and Vile Victorians''
61+2FCcjovL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 26:The Incredible Incas
 
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*''Smashing Saxons and Stormin' Normans''
61H9weK1TrL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 27:The Smashing Saxons
 
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*''The Terrible Tudors and The Slimy Stuarts''
61F+oz6KLeL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 28:Rotten Romans In Britain
 
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*''Vicious Vikings and Measly Middle Ages''
61JyJkKFuLL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 29:The Vile Victorians Foul Factories
 
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*''The Barmy British Empire and The Blitzed Brits''
390px-61OvIrjFzPL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine30:The Groovy Greeks Alexander The Not-So-Great
 
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*''Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas''
61lB7t5AlWL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 31:The Slimy Stuarts Charlie Gets The Chop
 
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*''Horribly Huge Book of Awful Egyptians and Ruthless Romans''
61z1bVjJivL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 32:The Maruding Mongols
 
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There has also been a book package released entitled the ''Blood Curdling Box Set''. It includes the books: Savage Stone Age, Awesome Egyptians, Groovy Greeks, Rotten Romans, Cut-Throat Celts, Smashing Saxons, Vicious Vikings, Stormin Normans, Angry Aztecs, Incredible Incas, Measly Middle Ages, Slimy Stuarts, Terrible Tudors, Gorgeous Georgians, Vile Victorians, Villainous Victorians, Barmy British Empire, Frightful First World War, Woeful Second World War, Blitzed Brits.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-6 [7]]</sup>
618v-DZIx0L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 33:Rowdy Revolutions France
 
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612LKYWEObL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 34:The Awful Ancients
 
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===Novelty books===
61HoUvr46oL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 35:The Sizzling Spanish
 
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According to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholastics Scholastics]<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-1 [2]]</sup> website,
61iD+R9XhaL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 36:The Beastly Barbarians
 
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*''The Horrible (Wicked) History of the World'' - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Earth Earth's History])
61uwPEV3ErL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 37:The Stormin' Normans
 
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*''Awesome Annual 2007'' - (various periods)
61s7JHCF7mL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 38:Ruthless Richard And The Useless Yorks
 
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*''Annual 2008'' - (various periods)
61725NQ8smL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 39:The Blized Brits
 
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*''Annual 2009'' - (various periods)
61AKJb3onPL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 40:Rowdy Revolutions America
 
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*''Annual 2010'' - (various perio
610qAbm2WqL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 41:The Silly Chilly Cold War
 
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61VWJVeLL+L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 42:The Cut0Throat Celts
 
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ds)
61LqCyIq3xL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 43 The Ingenious Italians
 
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*''The Mad Miscellany'' - ([http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miscellaneous Miscellaneous])
611jthJpVEL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 44:Nasty Knights & Crazy Crusaders
 
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*''Cruel Crime and Painful Punishment'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime Crime] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punishment Punishment])
61acfKmqHsL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 45:The Gorgeous Gergians vs. Nasty Napoleon
 
  +
*''Horrible Christmas'' (2000) - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas Christmas])
61YmDEsBa9L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 46:The Slicing Samurai
 
  +
*''The Big Fat Father Christmas Book''
61qk+6o4TeL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 47:The 'Orrible Ottomans
 
  +
*''Action Packs: Awful Egyptians''
614eirmXU3L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 48:Pludering Pirates
 
  +
*''Terrible Tomb of Tutankhamun Pop-up Adventure''
61ccaDb5zCL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 49:Rowdy Revolutions Russia
 
  +
are considered ''Novelty Books'', and are not classified with the ordinary books.
61vgvNRy05L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 50:The Jumbled Germans
 
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===Specials===
61D3H6U1YFL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 51:The Amazing Africans
 
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There are a few books in the Horrible Histories series that have a special sign on the front cover stating that they are part of the ''Special'' sub-series of Horrible Histories. They are:
617QYYeHWGL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 52:The Incredible Indians
 
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*''Bloody Scotland'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Scotland History of Scotland])
61vrI5DooZL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 53:Revolting Revolutions Europe
 
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*''Cruel Kings and Mean Queens'' - (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_monarchs Kings and Queens] of England, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain Britain], and the United Kingdom)
61LI4P3diIL. SS400 .jpg|Magazine 54:The Cheeky Chinese
 
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*''Dark Knights and Dingy Castles'' - (The history of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight Knights] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle Castles])
61VKdsIaxfL. SS400 .jpg|Magazine 55:America's Very UnCivil War
 
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*''England'' - (England)
185px-618qOkvyJtL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 56:The Terrific Pacific
 
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*''France'' - (France)
61c50y2TpBL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 57:The Irate Irish
 
  +
*''Ireland'' (2000) - (Ireland)
61wiuaeBzSL. SL500 AA300 .jpg|Magazine 58:Revolting Revolutions South America
 
  +
*''Rotten Rulers'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rulers Rulers])
61OEhEZGgKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 59:Cruel Colonials
 
  +
*''Rowdy Revolutions'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions Revolutions])
61jUKKbx0fL._SL500_AA300_.jpg|Magazine 60:The Amazing Aussies
 
  +
*''The Twentieth (20th) Century'' - (20th century)
61pTpvwRAcL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 61:The Scary Scots Woad Warriors
 
  +
*''The USA'' - (The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_America United States of America])
61VwM0ubVcL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 62:Even More Rotten Romans
 
  +
*''Wales'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales Wales])
61pytrGZ6aL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 63:Awful England
 
  +
*''Wicked Words'' - (The History of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics Linguistics])
61D+SEw+QML._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 64:The Super South Africans
 
  +
*''Horrible Christmas'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas Christmas])
51vEBok+7qL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 65:The Shifty 50s
 
  +
===Horrible Histories Cities===
61emAag+S+L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 66:Even More Extraordinary Explorers
 
  +
Some Horrible Histories books have been based around a particular city, rather than a nation or a specific time period. They also have a map when the front cover is folded out, and explain some structures in the city when the back cover is folded out. Therefore, many people consider them to be a sub-series as well. (Even though Loathsome London doesn't have these qualities, it is still based on a city.[http://www.amazon.com/London-Horrible-Histories-Gruesome-Guides/dp/1407104233/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271103073&sr=1-6 [9]]<sup class="Template-Fact" style="white-space: nowrap;" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from June 2009">[''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed citation needed]'']</sup>) They consist of:
612wHCy+QqL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 67:The Amazing Americans
 
  +
*''Oxford'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford Oxford])
6103F0FIbHL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 68:The Terrifying Trojans
 
  +
*''Stratford-upon-Avon'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon])
61YPHIqGc7L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 69:The Crazy Caribbean
 
  +
*''Dublin'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin Dublin])
614enxiMMzL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 70:Even More Vile Victorians
 
  +
*''Edinburgh'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh Edinburgh])
61lCvJsVtiL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 71:The Wild Welsh
 
  +
*''York'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York York])
61tSg+wE33L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 72:The Shocking Sixties
 
  +
*''London''(previously ''Loathsome London'') - (2005) ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London London]) [http://www.amazon.com/London-Horrible-Histories-Gruesome-Guides/dp/1407104233/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271103073&sr=1-6 [10]]
61zXCnON--L._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 73:The Scary Scots Tartan Terrors
 
  +
===Handbooks===
613W72imArL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 74:The Busy Byzantines
 
  +
The Horrible Histories Handbooks also differ from the original books. They have colour and are shaped differently. They consist of:
616CwLdcsfL. SS400 .jpg|Magazine 75:The Elegant Edwardians
 
  +
*''Spies'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spies Spies])
61JF3SWgeTL._SS400_.jpg|Magazine 76:Potty Portugal
 
  +
*''Blitz'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blitz The Blitz])
</gallery>
 
  +
*''Warriors'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrior Warriors])
  +
*''Knights'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights Knights])
  +
*''Pirates'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates Pirates])
  +
*''Witches'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches Witches])
  +
*''Villains'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villains Villains])
  +
*''Trenches'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenches Trenches])
  +
*''The Horrible History of the World'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_History World History])
  +
===Quiz books===
  +
Sometimes, as well as the ordinary books, there is a quiz book that comes with it, testing your knowledge of that particular subject. They are:
  +
*''The Awesome Ancient Quiz Book'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_history Ancient Civilizations])
  +
*''The Horribly Huge (Massive Millennium) Quiz Book'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium Millennium])
  +
===Sticker and Activity Books===
  +
There are quite a number of Horrible Histories sticker and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activity_book activity books]. These include.
  +
*Horrible Christmas Sticker Book
  +
*Angry Aztecs Sticker Book
  +
*Dark Knights and Dingy Castles Sticker-Activity Book
  +
*Cut-throat Celts Sticker-Activity Book
  +
*Incredible Incas Activity Book
  +
*Gorgeous Georgians Activity Book
  +
*Savage Stone Age Sticker Book
  +
*Measly Middle Ages Activity Book
  +
*Slimy Stuarts Sticker Book
  +
*The Groovy Greeks Activity Book
  +
*The Vicious Vikings Sticker Book
  +
*Vile Victorians Activity Book
  +
*Terrible Tudors Sticker Book
  +
*Rotten Romans Sticker Book
  +
*Awesome Egyptians Activity Book
  +
*Awesome Activity Book
  +
*Savage Sticker Book
  +
*Grisly Quiz Book and Gruesome Games Pack
  +
===Gory Stories===
  +
A new fiction-type of Horrible Histories series has recently sprouted, called Gory Stories. The first set of books to be published in July 2008 were:
  +
*Gory Stories - Tower of Terror (Tudors)
  +
*Gory Stories - Tomb of Treasure (Egyptians)
  +
*Gory Stories - Wall of Woe - (Romans)
  +
*Gory Stories - Shadow of the Gallows (Victorians)
  +
*Gory Stories - Raiders and Ruins (Vikings) - March 2009
  +
*Gory Stories - Blackout in the Blitz (World War II) - May 2009
  +
Further titles to be published in 2009 include:
  +
*Gory Stories - Plague and Peril (Middle Ages)
  +
*Gory Stories - Pirates and Plunder (Pirates)
  +
Blackout in the Blitz is listed on Terry Deary's website as Bombs on Britain[1], but on Amazon.co.uk it is listed as Blackout in the Blitz, along with a cover.
  +
===High-speed History===
  +
Beginning in 2010, a new sub-series called "High-speed History" was published. These books are written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Dave Smith. The books in the sub-series are:
  +
*''Egypt - A High-Speed History'' - 3 May 2010
  +
*''Tudors - A High-Speed History'' - 2 Aug 2010
  +
*''Knights - A High-Speed History'' - 3 Mar 2011
  +
*''Rome - A High-Speed History'' - July 2011
  +
===Others===
  +
These are the books that don't fit into the other categories. They are:
  +
*''Dreadful Diary'' - (An 'on this day' style [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary diary])
  +
*''The Mad Millennium''
  +
*''Poisonous Postcards'' - (a Card Book)
  +
==Titles In Progress==
  +
====2010 plans====
  +
*''Republishing of all city, country, handbook and original series titles''
  +
*''Gory Stories: Pirates - February''
  +
*''Keyring Book 2 - April''
  +
*''High speed history: Egyptians'' - All new Horrible Histories sub-series that features historical tales in a comic-strip format. Published May 3, 2010.[http://www.bbcshop.com/Horrible-Histories/Horrible-Histories-Egypt-High-Speed-History/invt/9781407111865 [2]]
  +
*''High speed history: Tudors'' - Published August 2, 2010.[http://www.tesco.com/books/product.aspx?R=9781407111797&in_merch=1&in_merch_title=You+may+also+like&in_merch_name= [3]]
  +
====2011 plans====
  +
*''Horrible Histories - Special'' - August
  +
*Huge Book 2 - June
  +
*Horrible Histories Huge Book II published - June
  +
*HH Britain bind-up – June
  +
*HH Colouring book - June
  +
*New Horrible Histories Handbook - July
  +
*Annual 2012 - August
  +
*High speed history: Knights - August
  +
*Horrible Histories High speed history 4 - August
  +
*Horrible Histories Xmas flexi new edition republishing - September
  +
*Horrible History of Britain and Ireland - September
  +
*Who's Horrible in History - September
  +
*Wicked History of Britain - September
  +
*4 TV Tie-ins - October
  +
*Vile Villains - March 2011
  +
*Spies - March 2011
  +
*Terrible Tranches - March 2011
  +
*Blitz (non-handbook version)
  +
====2012 plans====
  +
''Horrible Histories - Special'' - August
  +
==Development==
  +
Terry Deary's background is "very much in theatre". He studied at a drama college and worked as an actor-teacher at the TIE company in Wales. He then became a theatre director and began to write plays for children. Many of his TIE plays were eventually rewritten and adapted into the Horrible Histories book series.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
The fifth book in the series was Blitzed Brits. This book was published in 1995, and by chance the date of publication coincided with the 50th anniversary of VE day, which is cited at being responsible for the book reaching no. 1 on the bestseller list. A couple of years later, Deary decided that the book only gave the British viewpoint during World War II, and recognised that this was a bias way of writing such a book. Therefore, Deary wrote Woeful Second World War, because he thought he owed it to his fans to give them an accurate and unbiased account of the war, by writing about it from the European viewpoint as a whole. As the British viewpoint had already been extensively described in the previous book, and as "publishers don't like you covering the same information in new books", this new book focused on the roles of France, Poland, Germany and Russia during the war. The book was published in September 1999, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
Deary eventually returned to the stage. Mad Millennium was commissioned by director Phillip Clark, who was a fellow TIE participant 25 years before. He said "your [Horrible Histories] books are very successful. Can we turn them into a large-scale theatre production?” Deary was happy to return to writing plays.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
==Philosophy==
  +
Terry Deary gave the following testimony to The Guardian in 2003: "Everything I leant [at school] after 11 was a waste of time...it was boring, badly taoguth and not related to the real world...schools are nothing but a Victorian idea to get people off the street..who decided that that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom wiht one teacher was the best way of educating?" This outlook on the education system served as the inspiration for the Horrible Histories series, as a possible alternative.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-4 [5]]</sup> Deary has also said in an interview, "If I had it my way, I wouldn't have schools at all. They don't educate, they just keep kids off the streets. But my books educate, because they prepare kids for life."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BFP_5-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-BFP-5 [6]]</sup>
  +
  +
Deary has said, "It's outrageous - why don't we start telling children the truth about history? I hope my books do just that."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BFP_5-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-BFP-5 [6]]</sup>
  +
  +
According to ''Consuming history: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture'' by Jerome De Groot, Horrible Histories books are designed to engage and enthuse the reader about a subject while appearing subversive. QAccording to him, the books are primarily entertainment with educative purpose.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google1_1-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google1-1 [2]]</sup>
  +
  +
Groot also suggests that Horrible Histories has a sceptical view on the accuracy and validity of history. In an introduction to one of the books in series, it states <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google1_1-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google1-1 [2]]</sup>
  +
{| class="cquote" style="margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;" valign="top" width="20"|“
  +
| style="padding: 4px 10px;" valign="top"|History can be horrible. Horribly hard to learn. The trouble is it keeps on ''changing'' ... In history a 'fact' is sometimes not a fact at all. Really it's just someone's 'opinion'. And opinions can be different for different people ... Teachers will try to tell you there are 'right' and 'wrong' answers even if here aren't.
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px;" valign="bottom" width="20"|”
  +
|}
  +
Deary has many research methods when he is writing his books. He uses researchers for all Horrible Histories books, and sometimes uses researchers in specialised fields, such as a military historian for The Woeful Second War. Deary always "read[s] the most up-to-date books on the period [he's] writing about", although he also uses the internet more and more as time goes by. He also "completely absorb[s] [him]self into a period so [he]'ll know the whole historical context as well as all the events of that time". In cases when he "end[s] up with far more information than [he] need[s]", he tends to exclude all the "boring facts" such as dates because according to Deary himself, "dates don't matter. Human experience matters". <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
Deary does not want his books to come over as preachy, saying "I'm an adult, I know this and I'm going to tell you". Instead, in his opinion the author's voice is an ignorant person exclaiming "you'll never believe what I found out when I read this book". He thinks that this series is essentially about discovering the wonders of human nature, and questioning whether we could possibly behave how those before us behaved. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
Deary does not consider himself "an academic...a teacher...[or] even an adult". Instead, he views himself as kid who wants to share facts with other kids. He thinks that the writer of a non-fiction series such as Horrible Histories has to "entertain first and inform second". Deary does not respect authors who follow each extreme. He believes that "readers are more important than writers and their needs have to come first". He believes that if you engage the reader, and if they are entertained by the substance, they will retain more knowledge from the work. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
Deary uses many generic conventions of literature to make his books more accessible to his readers. He will deliberately write his books in a prose style so they follow natural speech cadences, and are therefore more natural to speak. He also uses alliteration and assonance quite frequently. Deary considered poetry to be "just another weapon in the writer's armoury" rather than a specialised form of prose that may only be used in specific circumstances, and is "very comfortable with [using] it" in his non-fiction works. Deary thinks that the impersonal language used in textbooks alienates the reader, and feels that this is a huge drawback in engaging the reader in the work. He therefore uses the second person to talk directly to the reader, the grammatical person he would use if he were talking to the reader in real life. He views Horrible Histories as one of the few non-fiction or fiction series which utilise this "underused style of writing".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
{| class="cquote" style="margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;" valign="top" width="20"|“
  +
| style="padding: 4px 10px;" valign="top"|How did people really behave in the Second World War? And how would '''you''' have behaved?
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px;" valign="bottom" width="20"|”
  +
|-
  +
| colspan="3" style="padding-right: 4%;"|
  +
|}
  +
Deary uses the medium of a newspaper to make serious material more accessible to the reader so they approach the piece in "a more relaxed frame of mind than they would a school text", for example in an article about the Massacre at Lidice. Newspapers can also be used to illustrate "mysterious and quite lighthearted" stories, such as those which might appear in a "Sun newspaper". In these circumstances, this medium is used as its subject matter is reminiscent of the other, more recognisable medium. Newspapers extracts, along with letters and diaries are used to tell stories from the perspectives of individual people, to engage the reader into the story. he "[tries] to get away from the objective, and to get [his] readers to view history subjectively".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
When writing about events and historical periods that are still in living memory, such as the Second World War, a degree of "sensitivity [needs to be] involved". While the story about an executioner that requires ten hacks to chop someone's head off in Even More Terrible Tudors is comical as contemporary society is so far removed from the event, relatively recent events are controversial to write about as readers may personally know people who died in the war, or may not want to discuss the Holocaust with their children. However, Deary believes that it is important for children to know about these events, and that they cannot be deemed taboo and never spoken of.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
The majority of the demographic of Horrible Histories readers are "reluctant readers", who like Deary's series as they can "pick one up, read a small section, and then put it down again". Deary attributes this to the use of short chapters, the fact that one may read the book in a non-linear order, and the varying uses of media in each book, such as quizzes and comic strips.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google2_3-9">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google2-3 [4]]</sup> Nikki Gamble writes in her book ''ICT and literacy'' that two Year 5 twins appreciated the book's non-linear structure as "you don't have to read [the books] from beginning to end..one of us can, um, read the first chapter and the other one can be reading the last bit...it doesn't really matter about the order, does it?"
  +
{| class="cquote" style="margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;" valign="top" width="20"|“
  +
| style="padding: 4px 10px;" valign="top"|With Horrible Histories I want children to think about how people in certain moments of history felt and also for them to consider what these people were experiencing...in Horrible Histories I'm asking, 'Why do people do what they do?' And, ultimately, 'Why do I behave the way I do?'
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: right; padding: 10px;" valign="bottom" width="20"|”
  +
|-
  +
| colspan="3" style="padding-right: 4%;"|
  +
|}
  +
The information in the books is presented in an informal way, and the tone of the books is conversational. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-google1_1-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-google1-1 [2]]</sup>
  +
{| class="cquote" style="margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: none; background-color: transparent; width: auto;"
  +
| style="color: rgb(178, 183, 242); font-size: 35px; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: bold; text-align: left; padding: 10px;" valign="top" width="20"|“
  +
| style="padding: 4px 10px;" valign="top"|you would be disgusted by [Ivan the Terrible's] life story. So I won't tell you. What? You still want to read it? Oh, very well. I'll tell you the story but I'll leave out the gruesome bits.
  +
|}
  +
==Book makeover==
  +
On 7 May 2007, the original series of the Horrible Histories books began to be republished with a new look and new content. The new books have altered information on the back cover, an index and a brighter, redesigned front cover.
  +
==Magazines==
  +
See [http://horriblehistories.wikia.com/wiki/The_Horrible_Histories_Collection The Horrible Histories Collection]
  +
==Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin Contest==
  +
In 2003, to celebrate Horrible Histories' 10th anniversary, Scholastic held a contest to find Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin. Terry Deary played Quizmaster and through a series of rounds, gradually eliminated five of the six finalists to be invited to the London vaults from 500 applicants. After the sudden death final, Iain Gibbons was crowned the winner. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-2 [3]]</sup>
  +
==Tours and Exhibitions==
  +
See Horrible Histories:Tours and Exhibitions
  +
==Critical Response==
  +
The book series has been generally well received. Some reviews from CaptainD [http://www.darscom.net/horrible_histories_reviews.html [1]] gives positive feedback towards the books.
  +
*A review by Tammy McQuoid at [http://www.abasiccurriculum.com/reviews/horrible.html [2]] states that "While the book is quite irreverent at times, it does have plenty of historical information in it." citing an example as "the fact that they say the Normans brought the feudal system to England and that Henry II of England said that he wished he could be rid of Thomas a Becket. And then some of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to kill Thomas a Becket, an archbishop." She however does state some positive remarks including "There's plenty more of good, factual history included...I think it's a good idea to mix up unit studies a bit with some educational fun and games."
  +
*Carole Green of the BBC did a review on the Terrible Tudors play at the Grand Opera House, 2006 [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2006/06/07/caroles_horrible_histories_review_feature.shtml [3]].She gave a very positive review stating "It was a wonderful evening, very funny and educational without realising it."
  +
*The Guardian gave a review about the series as a whole [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/may/10/booksforchildrenandteenagers [4]], also stating comments from a variety of distinguished people. Angela Marks, the history co-ordinator and teacher at St Luke's Church of England Primary School said that the books "...are very cleverly done...children feel that they shouldn't be reading them, that there is something slightly naughty about them. That immediately engages them." Julian Pooley, an archivist said "I wish there had been books like this around when I was at school, when history was all facts and no life. I made do with Ladybird guides."
  +
*yummy87 at [http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/magazines-newspapers/horrible-histories/426313/ [5]] stated that the series "...is interesting, and is written in such an amusing way, that it will keep children and adults enthralled for hours. I believe that the magazine represents wonderful value for money, as the magazines will be used continually."
  +
*Joseph Allen McCullough Of Suite101 offered a review on the city-themed book ''Oxford'': Not only is this new little book a great read for anyone (child or adult) with a passing interest in history, it is also a necessary book for any tourist to the city of Dreaming Spires. Any tourist guide will likely tell you who got killed where in Oxford, but Deary's book will do the same thing and entertain you at the same time." ([http://britishhistory.suite101.co/ http://britishhistory.suite101.co] m/article.cfm/horrible_histories_oxford_review)
  +
*However, the series causes trouble in some parts of the world.
  +
==Awards==
  +
*Best Book with Facts in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2000
  +
*Best Book for Knowledge Award at the Blue Peter Book Awards 2001
  +
*Terry Deary tops the list of most-borrowed non-fiction children’s authors every year. (Figures based on the Library Survey)
  +
*Terry Deary was voted the fifth most popular living children’s author in a 2005 Guardian survey. Narins [http://www.horrible-histories.co.uk/index.tao?PageId=news [16]]
  +
*Winner of British Comedy Awards 2011(TV series)
  +
==Controversy==
  +
The book ''Bloody Scotland'' drew the ire of the tiny [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Separatist_Group Scottish Separatist Group], who claimed it promoted a "UK centric, anti-Scottish viewpoint of Scottish history", using comments like "Cook the haggis until it looks like a hedgehog after the fifteenth lorry has run over it". They reported the book to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_for_Racial_Equality Commission for Racial Equality], who rejected their claim.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-houseofbooks_3-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-houseofbooks-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Trust_for_Places_of_Historic_Interest_or_Natural_Beauty National Trust] was unhappy with ''Cruel Kings and Mean Queens'' because it made jokes about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Charles Prince Charles]'s ears (the prince is the trust's patron) and Queen Elizabeth II.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-houseofbooks_3-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-houseofbooks-3 [4]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-4 [5]]</sup>
  +
  +
The book "Slimy Stuarts" has been accused of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholic Anti-Catholic] views.
  +
  +
According to Terry Deary's homepage, "Several of the books have been banned in some places."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-houseofbooks_3-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-houseofbooks-3 [4]]</sup>
  +
  +
In the Horrible Histories series, there are two books titled ''The Horrible History of the World'' and ''The Wicked History of the World''; however, they are the same book, only with different headings. To confuse things further, compact and mini editions are planned for release at the end of 2007. The same incident occurred with ''The Horribly Huge Quiz Book'' and ''Massive Millennium Quiz Book'', and ''The Mad Millennium'' and ''Mad Millennium Play''. Also, there are two different covers for ''Horrible Christmas'', as well as new paperback, compact and mini editions soon to be published.
  +
  +
In an article called "Scholastic's Horrible Histories Book Series: Promoting Hate", posted on October 10, 2006 on [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Literanista&action=edit&redlink=1 Literanista],<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories#cite_note-5 [6]]</sup> a comment was made on the use of violent imagery in the book Angry Aztecs: "Now I understand trying to promote reading through the use of gross graphics and cartoonish depictions in an attempt to engage kids, but honestly do Latinos and other foreign groups really need children having these depictions encrypted into their little heads at school." A user named Anonymous rebutted this comment by stating the book/s historical accuracy, and hence the images being justified: "The Aztecs DID engage in human sacrifice in the manner depicted on the front cover of The Angry Aztecs. There is nothing inaccurate there. If you read the book you will see it covers other aspects of Aztec culture, not just the brutal parts, although the Horrible Histories series does tend to focus on the sensational."
  +
==Other languages==
  +
===Poland===
  +
This is a sub-series of Horrible Histories books describing various aspects of Polish history and society (written by [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ma%C5%82gorzata_Fabianowska&action=edit&redlink=1 Małgorzata Fabianowska] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ma%C5%82gorzata_Nesteruk&action=edit&redlink=1 Małgorzata Nesteruk], illustrated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J%C4%99drzej_%C5%81aniecki&action=edit&redlink=1 Jędrzej Łaniecki])
  +
*Ci Sprytni Słowianie ''(The Clever Slavs)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavs Slavs])
  +
*Pokrętni Piastowie ''(Piast Dynasty)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piast_Dynasty Piast Dynasty])
  +
*Dynamiczna Dynastia Jagiellonów ''(Dynamic Jagiellon Dynasty)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagiellon_Dynasty Jagiellon Dynasty])
  +
*Sakramencki Sarmatyzm ''(Bloody Samatism)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarmatism Sarmatism])
  +
*Atrakcyjni królowie Elekcyjni ''(Sovereign Election Appeal)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_elections Polish Elections] and Polish Elective Monarchy)
  +
*Zagmatwane zabory - ''(Invasive Embroilment)'' ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partitions_of_Poland Partitions of Poland])
  +
*Nieznośna niepodległość ''(Vexing Independence)'' - ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland_%281918-1939%29 History of Poland (1918-1939)])
  +
These books have not yet been published in English.
  +
===Czech===
  +
The Czech translations of the Pollish sub-series are:
  +
*''Mazaní Slované'' (The Clever Slavs) ''- ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavs Slavs])''
  +
===Germany===
  +
The first [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories_%28other_media%29 Horrible Histories Videogame] has also been published in Germany, translating the series' title as ''Schauderhafte Geschichten''.
  +
===Dutch===
  +
The Dutch series ''Waanzinnig om te weten'' is a translation and an adaptation of the English series Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Horrible Geography, but not all parts are in the Dutch translation.
 
[[Category:Horrible Histories]]
 
[[Category:Horrible Histories]]

Revision as of 17:50, 22 July 2011

Hh-news

The Horrible Histories TV Series Logo.


Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. They are designed to get children interested in history by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms. The books are written by Terry Deary, Peter Hepplewhite and Neil Tonge and illustrated by Martin Brown, Mike Phillips and Philip Reeve.

The first books in the series, The Terrible Tudors and The Awesome Egyptians, were published in June 1993.

In May 2007, eight of the original series were relaunched with new covers and additional content. The remainder have been republished in the new format, which was completed on January 2009.[1] See Book makeover. With approximately 70 books in the series, Horrible Histories have had 10 million copies sold in the UK, 20 million worldwide, translations to 31 languages, and are offered in 37 countries.

The books have tie-ins with newspapers such as The Telegraph[2], as well as audio-book tie-ins with Kellogs breakfast cereals Cocopops, Frosties and Corn Flakes. [3]

Book categories

Though all of the Horrible History books are part of the same series, they are split up into many sub-series. Here are some of them:

Original books

These are the original books that pioneered the Horrible phenomenon:

Aztects and incas HH old

Former cover of Two in One book The Angry Aztecs and The Incredible Incas

Horrible Histories Two in One
Aztects and incas HH new

Current cover of Two in One book Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas

There are also the 'Two Horrible Books in One' versions

  • The Frightful First World War and The Woeful Second World War
  • The Groovy Greeks and the Rotten Romans
  • Gorgeous Georgians and Vile Victorians
  • Smashing Saxons and Stormin' Normans
  • The Terrible Tudors and The Slimy Stuarts
  • Vicious Vikings and Measly Middle Ages
  • The Barmy British Empire and The Blitzed Brits
  • Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas
  • Horribly Huge Book of Awful Egyptians and Ruthless Romans

There has also been a book package released entitled the Blood Curdling Box Set. It includes the books: Savage Stone Age, Awesome Egyptians, Groovy Greeks, Rotten Romans, Cut-Throat Celts, Smashing Saxons, Vicious Vikings, Stormin Normans, Angry Aztecs, Incredible Incas, Measly Middle Ages, Slimy Stuarts, Terrible Tudors, Gorgeous Georgians, Vile Victorians, Villainous Victorians, Barmy British Empire, Frightful First World War, Woeful Second World War, Blitzed Brits.[7]

Novelty books

According to the Scholastics[2] website,

  • The Horrible (Wicked) History of the World - Earth's History)
  • Awesome Annual 2007 - (various periods)
  • Annual 2008 - (various periods)
  • Annual 2009 - (various periods)
  • Annual 2010 - (various perio

ds)

  • The Mad Miscellany - (Miscellaneous)
  • Cruel Crime and Painful Punishment - (Crime and Punishment)
  • Horrible Christmas (2000) - (Christmas)
  • The Big Fat Father Christmas Book
  • Action Packs: Awful Egyptians
  • Terrible Tomb of Tutankhamun Pop-up Adventure

are considered Novelty Books, and are not classified with the ordinary books.

Specials

There are a few books in the Horrible Histories series that have a special sign on the front cover stating that they are part of the Special sub-series of Horrible Histories. They are:

Horrible Histories Cities

Some Horrible Histories books have been based around a particular city, rather than a nation or a specific time period. They also have a map when the front cover is folded out, and explain some structures in the city when the back cover is folded out. Therefore, many people consider them to be a sub-series as well. (Even though Loathsome London doesn't have these qualities, it is still based on a city.[9][citation needed]) They consist of:

Handbooks

The Horrible Histories Handbooks also differ from the original books. They have colour and are shaped differently. They consist of:

Quiz books

Sometimes, as well as the ordinary books, there is a quiz book that comes with it, testing your knowledge of that particular subject. They are:

Sticker and Activity Books

There are quite a number of Horrible Histories sticker and activity books. These include.

  • Horrible Christmas Sticker Book
  • Angry Aztecs Sticker Book
  • Dark Knights and Dingy Castles Sticker-Activity Book
  • Cut-throat Celts Sticker-Activity Book
  • Incredible Incas Activity Book
  • Gorgeous Georgians Activity Book
  • Savage Stone Age Sticker Book
  • Measly Middle Ages Activity Book
  • Slimy Stuarts Sticker Book
  • The Groovy Greeks Activity Book
  • The Vicious Vikings Sticker Book
  • Vile Victorians Activity Book
  • Terrible Tudors Sticker Book
  • Rotten Romans Sticker Book
  • Awesome Egyptians Activity Book
  • Awesome Activity Book
  • Savage Sticker Book
  • Grisly Quiz Book and Gruesome Games Pack

Gory Stories

A new fiction-type of Horrible Histories series has recently sprouted, called Gory Stories. The first set of books to be published in July 2008 were:

  • Gory Stories - Tower of Terror (Tudors)
  • Gory Stories - Tomb of Treasure (Egyptians)
  • Gory Stories - Wall of Woe - (Romans)
  • Gory Stories - Shadow of the Gallows (Victorians)
  • Gory Stories - Raiders and Ruins (Vikings) - March 2009
  • Gory Stories - Blackout in the Blitz (World War II) - May 2009

Further titles to be published in 2009 include:

  • Gory Stories - Plague and Peril (Middle Ages)
  • Gory Stories - Pirates and Plunder (Pirates)

Blackout in the Blitz is listed on Terry Deary's website as Bombs on Britain[1], but on Amazon.co.uk it is listed as Blackout in the Blitz, along with a cover.

High-speed History

Beginning in 2010, a new sub-series called "High-speed History" was published. These books are written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Dave Smith. The books in the sub-series are:

  • Egypt - A High-Speed History - 3 May 2010
  • Tudors - A High-Speed History - 2 Aug 2010
  • Knights - A High-Speed History - 3 Mar 2011
  • Rome - A High-Speed History - July 2011

Others

These are the books that don't fit into the other categories. They are:

  • Dreadful Diary - (An 'on this day' style diary)
  • The Mad Millennium
  • Poisonous Postcards - (a Card Book)

Titles In Progress

2010 plans

  • Republishing of all city, country, handbook and original series titles
  • Gory Stories: Pirates - February
  • Keyring Book 2 - April
  • High speed history: Egyptians - All new Horrible Histories sub-series that features historical tales in a comic-strip format. Published May 3, 2010.[2]
  • High speed history: Tudors - Published August 2, 2010.[3]

2011 plans

  • Horrible Histories - Special - August
  • Huge Book 2 - June
  • Horrible Histories Huge Book II published - June
  • HH Britain bind-up – June
  • HH Colouring book - June
  • New Horrible Histories Handbook - July
  • Annual 2012 - August
  • High speed history: Knights - August
  • Horrible Histories High speed history 4 - August
  • Horrible Histories Xmas flexi new edition republishing - September
  • Horrible History of Britain and Ireland - September
  • Who's Horrible in History - September
  • Wicked History of Britain - September
  • 4 TV Tie-ins - October
  • Vile Villains - March 2011
  • Spies - March 2011
  • Terrible Tranches - March 2011
  • Blitz (non-handbook version)

2012 plans

Horrible Histories - Special - August

Development

Terry Deary's background is "very much in theatre". He studied at a drama college and worked as an actor-teacher at the TIE company in Wales. He then became a theatre director and began to write plays for children. Many of his TIE plays were eventually rewritten and adapted into the Horrible Histories book series.[4]

The fifth book in the series was Blitzed Brits. This book was published in 1995, and by chance the date of publication coincided with the 50th anniversary of VE day, which is cited at being responsible for the book reaching no. 1 on the bestseller list. A couple of years later, Deary decided that the book only gave the British viewpoint during World War II, and recognised that this was a bias way of writing such a book. Therefore, Deary wrote Woeful Second World War, because he thought he owed it to his fans to give them an accurate and unbiased account of the war, by writing about it from the European viewpoint as a whole. As the British viewpoint had already been extensively described in the previous book, and as "publishers don't like you covering the same information in new books", this new book focused on the roles of France, Poland, Germany and Russia during the war. The book was published in September 1999, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II [4]

Deary eventually returned to the stage. Mad Millennium was commissioned by director Phillip Clark, who was a fellow TIE participant 25 years before. He said "your [Horrible Histories] books are very successful. Can we turn them into a large-scale theatre production?” Deary was happy to return to writing plays.[4]

Philosophy

Terry Deary gave the following testimony to The Guardian in 2003: "Everything I leant [at school] after 11 was a waste of time...it was boring, badly taoguth and not related to the real world...schools are nothing but a Victorian idea to get people off the street..who decided that that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom wiht one teacher was the best way of educating?" This outlook on the education system served as the inspiration for the Horrible Histories series, as a possible alternative.[5] Deary has also said in an interview, "If I had it my way, I wouldn't have schools at all. They don't educate, they just keep kids off the streets. But my books educate, because they prepare kids for life."[6]

Deary has said, "It's outrageous - why don't we start telling children the truth about history? I hope my books do just that."[6]

According to Consuming history: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture by Jerome De Groot, Horrible Histories books are designed to engage and enthuse the reader about a subject while appearing subversive. QAccording to him, the books are primarily entertainment with educative purpose.[2]

Groot also suggests that Horrible Histories has a sceptical view on the accuracy and validity of history. In an introduction to one of the books in series, it states [2]

History can be horrible. Horribly hard to learn. The trouble is it keeps on changing ... In history a 'fact' is sometimes not a fact at all. Really it's just someone's 'opinion'. And opinions can be different for different people ... Teachers will try to tell you there are 'right' and 'wrong' answers even if here aren't.

Deary has many research methods when he is writing his books. He uses researchers for all Horrible Histories books, and sometimes uses researchers in specialised fields, such as a military historian for The Woeful Second War. Deary always "read[s] the most up-to-date books on the period [he's] writing about", although he also uses the internet more and more as time goes by. He also "completely absorb[s] [him]self into a period so [he]'ll know the whole historical context as well as all the events of that time". In cases when he "end[s] up with far more information than [he] need[s]", he tends to exclude all the "boring facts" such as dates because according to Deary himself, "dates don't matter. Human experience matters". [4]

Deary does not want his books to come over as preachy, saying "I'm an adult, I know this and I'm going to tell you". Instead, in his opinion the author's voice is an ignorant person exclaiming "you'll never believe what I found out when I read this book". He thinks that this series is essentially about discovering the wonders of human nature, and questioning whether we could possibly behave how those before us behaved. [4]

Deary does not consider himself "an academic...a teacher...[or] even an adult". Instead, he views himself as kid who wants to share facts with other kids. He thinks that the writer of a non-fiction series such as Horrible Histories has to "entertain first and inform second". Deary does not respect authors who follow each extreme. He believes that "readers are more important than writers and their needs have to come first". He believes that if you engage the reader, and if they are entertained by the substance, they will retain more knowledge from the work. [4]

Deary uses many generic conventions of literature to make his books more accessible to his readers. He will deliberately write his books in a prose style so they follow natural speech cadences, and are therefore more natural to speak. He also uses alliteration and assonance quite frequently. Deary considered poetry to be "just another weapon in the writer's armoury" rather than a specialised form of prose that may only be used in specific circumstances, and is "very comfortable with [using] it" in his non-fiction works. Deary thinks that the impersonal language used in textbooks alienates the reader, and feels that this is a huge drawback in engaging the reader in the work. He therefore uses the second person to talk directly to the reader, the grammatical person he would use if he were talking to the reader in real life. He views Horrible Histories as one of the few non-fiction or fiction series which utilise this "underused style of writing".[4]

How did people really behave in the Second World War? And how would you have behaved?

Deary uses the medium of a newspaper to make serious material more accessible to the reader so they approach the piece in "a more relaxed frame of mind than they would a school text", for example in an article about the Massacre at Lidice. Newspapers can also be used to illustrate "mysterious and quite lighthearted" stories, such as those which might appear in a "Sun newspaper". In these circumstances, this medium is used as its subject matter is reminiscent of the other, more recognisable medium. Newspapers extracts, along with letters and diaries are used to tell stories from the perspectives of individual people, to engage the reader into the story. he "[tries] to get away from the objective, and to get [his] readers to view history subjectively".[4]

When writing about events and historical periods that are still in living memory, such as the Second World War, a degree of "sensitivity [needs to be] involved". While the story about an executioner that requires ten hacks to chop someone's head off in Even More Terrible Tudors is comical as contemporary society is so far removed from the event, relatively recent events are controversial to write about as readers may personally know people who died in the war, or may not want to discuss the Holocaust with their children. However, Deary believes that it is important for children to know about these events, and that they cannot be deemed taboo and never spoken of.[4]

The majority of the demographic of Horrible Histories readers are "reluctant readers", who like Deary's series as they can "pick one up, read a small section, and then put it down again". Deary attributes this to the use of short chapters, the fact that one may read the book in a non-linear order, and the varying uses of media in each book, such as quizzes and comic strips.[4] Nikki Gamble writes in her book ICT and literacy that two Year 5 twins appreciated the book's non-linear structure as "you don't have to read [the books] from beginning to end..one of us can, um, read the first chapter and the other one can be reading the last bit...it doesn't really matter about the order, does it?"

With Horrible Histories I want children to think about how people in certain moments of history felt and also for them to consider what these people were experiencing...in Horrible Histories I'm asking, 'Why do people do what they do?' And, ultimately, 'Why do I behave the way I do?'

The information in the books is presented in an informal way, and the tone of the books is conversational. [2]

you would be disgusted by [Ivan the Terrible's] life story. So I won't tell you. What? You still want to read it? Oh, very well. I'll tell you the story but I'll leave out the gruesome bits.

Book makeover

On 7 May 2007, the original series of the Horrible Histories books began to be republished with a new look and new content. The new books have altered information on the back cover, an index and a brighter, redesigned front cover.

Magazines

See The Horrible Histories Collection

Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin Contest

In 2003, to celebrate Horrible Histories' 10th anniversary, Scholastic held a contest to find Horrible Histories' Brainiest Boffin. Terry Deary played Quizmaster and through a series of rounds, gradually eliminated five of the six finalists to be invited to the London vaults from 500 applicants. After the sudden death final, Iain Gibbons was crowned the winner. [3]

Tours and Exhibitions

See Horrible Histories:Tours and Exhibitions

Critical Response

The book series has been generally well received. Some reviews from CaptainD [1] gives positive feedback towards the books.

  • A review by Tammy McQuoid at [2] states that "While the book is quite irreverent at times, it does have plenty of historical information in it." citing an example as "the fact that they say the Normans brought the feudal system to England and that Henry II of England said that he wished he could be rid of Thomas a Becket. And then some of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to kill Thomas a Becket, an archbishop." She however does state some positive remarks including "There's plenty more of good, factual history included...I think it's a good idea to mix up unit studies a bit with some educational fun and games."
  • Carole Green of the BBC did a review on the Terrible Tudors play at the Grand Opera House, 2006 [3].She gave a very positive review stating "It was a wonderful evening, very funny and educational without realising it."
  • The Guardian gave a review about the series as a whole [4], also stating comments from a variety of distinguished people. Angela Marks, the history co-ordinator and teacher at St Luke's Church of England Primary School said that the books "...are very cleverly done...children feel that they shouldn't be reading them, that there is something slightly naughty about them. That immediately engages them." Julian Pooley, an archivist said "I wish there had been books like this around when I was at school, when history was all facts and no life. I made do with Ladybird guides."
  • yummy87 at [5] stated that the series "...is interesting, and is written in such an amusing way, that it will keep children and adults enthralled for hours. I believe that the magazine represents wonderful value for money, as the magazines will be used continually."
  • Joseph Allen McCullough Of Suite101 offered a review on the city-themed book Oxford: Not only is this new little book a great read for anyone (child or adult) with a passing interest in history, it is also a necessary book for any tourist to the city of Dreaming Spires. Any tourist guide will likely tell you who got killed where in Oxford, but Deary's book will do the same thing and entertain you at the same time." (http://britishhistory.suite101.co m/article.cfm/horrible_histories_oxford_review)
  • However, the series causes trouble in some parts of the world.

Awards

  • Best Book with Facts in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2000
  • Best Book for Knowledge Award at the Blue Peter Book Awards 2001
  • Terry Deary tops the list of most-borrowed non-fiction children’s authors every year. (Figures based on the Library Survey)
  • Terry Deary was voted the fifth most popular living children’s author in a 2005 Guardian survey. Narins [16]
  • Winner of British Comedy Awards 2011(TV series)

Controversy

The book Bloody Scotland drew the ire of the tiny Scottish Separatist Group, who claimed it promoted a "UK centric, anti-Scottish viewpoint of Scottish history", using comments like "Cook the haggis until it looks like a hedgehog after the fifteenth lorry has run over it". They reported the book to the Commission for Racial Equality, who rejected their claim.[4]

The National Trust was unhappy with Cruel Kings and Mean Queens because it made jokes about Prince Charles's ears (the prince is the trust's patron) and Queen Elizabeth II.[4][5]

The book "Slimy Stuarts" has been accused of Anti-Catholic views.

According to Terry Deary's homepage, "Several of the books have been banned in some places."[4]

In the Horrible Histories series, there are two books titled The Horrible History of the World and The Wicked History of the World; however, they are the same book, only with different headings. To confuse things further, compact and mini editions are planned for release at the end of 2007. The same incident occurred with The Horribly Huge Quiz Book and Massive Millennium Quiz Book, and The Mad Millennium and Mad Millennium Play. Also, there are two different covers for Horrible Christmas, as well as new paperback, compact and mini editions soon to be published.

In an article called "Scholastic's Horrible Histories Book Series: Promoting Hate", posted on October 10, 2006 on Literanista,[6] a comment was made on the use of violent imagery in the book Angry Aztecs: "Now I understand trying to promote reading through the use of gross graphics and cartoonish depictions in an attempt to engage kids, but honestly do Latinos and other foreign groups really need children having these depictions encrypted into their little heads at school." A user named Anonymous rebutted this comment by stating the book/s historical accuracy, and hence the images being justified: "The Aztecs DID engage in human sacrifice in the manner depicted on the front cover of The Angry Aztecs. There is nothing inaccurate there. If you read the book you will see it covers other aspects of Aztec culture, not just the brutal parts, although the Horrible Histories series does tend to focus on the sensational."

Other languages

Poland

This is a sub-series of Horrible Histories books describing various aspects of Polish history and society (written by Małgorzata Fabianowska and Małgorzata Nesteruk, illustrated by Jędrzej Łaniecki)

These books have not yet been published in English.

Czech

The Czech translations of the Pollish sub-series are:

  • Mazaní Slované (The Clever Slavs) - (Slavs)

Germany

The first Horrible Histories Videogame has also been published in Germany, translating the series' title as Schauderhafte Geschichten.

Dutch

The Dutch series Waanzinnig om te weten is a translation and an adaptation of the English series Horrible Histories, Horrible Science and Horrible Geography, but not all parts are in the Dutch translation.