Unruly cover art

Unruly

A History of England's Kings and Queens

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Unruly

By: David Mitchell
Narrated by: David Mitchell
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Read by David Mitchell.

A funny book about a serious subject, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how we got here - and who is to blame.

Think you know your kings and queens? Think again.

Taking us right back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn't exist), Unruly tells the founding story of post-Roman England up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It's a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and at least one total Cnut.

How this happened, who it happened to and why it matters in modern Britain are all questions David Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit and the full erudition of a man who once studied history – and won't let it off the hook for the mess it's made.

*The Times Number One Bestseller October 2023*

'Clever, amusing, gloriously bizarre and razor sharp. Mitchell – a funny man and skilled historian – tells stories that are interesting and fun. Here is Horrible Histories for grownups’ GERARD DEGROOT, THE TIMES

‘Chatty, irreverent and liberally sprinkled with gags and opinions. Horrible Histories with added swearing’ GUARDIAN

'Mitchell clearly knows his history, with a book that owes as much to Monty Python as it does to Simon Schama' ANDREW MARR, BROADCASTER

©2023 David Mitchell (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Europe Great Britain Historical Politics & Activism Royalty England Funny Thought-Provoking Witty Comedy Feel-Good Arthurian Tudor War

Critic reviews

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.
Full of jokes and canny insights, 100 per cent sparkier and more revernt than your school textbooks
An enjoyable, rollicking read, definitely not a conventional history book
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
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
Mitchell clearly knows his history, with a book that owes as much to Monty Python as it does to Simon Schama
A Peep Show history of England
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
Chatty, irreverent and liberally sprinkled with gags and opinions. Horrible Histories with added swearing.
I can’t recommend this book enough. Very funny and interesting, it is above all a proper work of history
All stars
Most relevant
I was delighted to find that this book is every bit as ‘david Mitchell’ I’d hoped.

Fantastic and often hilarious

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed this ‘history’ lesson on the Kings and Queens of England, and having it read by David Mitchell was the icing on the cake ! The brilliant and fascinating stories of the English monarchy at their best and absolute worst is pure genius. There’s no sugar-coating the brutality, madness and downright lunacy of the English Kings/Queens and their ‘henchmen’ that you often find in your classroom history books. This is REAL history, told satirically through the lens of our modern society and culture. It’s solemn in places and hysterically funny in others, but we get the point and the historical context behind it. Thanks David, please write more !

Absolute Genius

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

loved it! chuckled from word 1 to end. So glad he read it himself would not have been the same. Really hope he does another book from Elizabeth the 1st onwards. one I will re-read

Fun look on history

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It wasn't as good as I was expecting. It was funny in parts and informative in parts. I should have remembered from a previous David Mitchell audiobook how monotone and whiney his voice appears to me. Great in small part, but over eleven hours...? Also, he does make it clear from the beginning that he does not like any monarch and sets out to show us why each and every one is awful. As I said, funny and informative in parts, but a bit one dimensional.

Funny in parts and informative in parts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Loved this book. It’s a lot of names to keep track of but it’s worth it

History as it should be taught

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews