Unruly
A History of England's Kings and Queens
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Unruly
Narrated by:
David Mitchell
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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David Mitchell
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By:
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David Mitchell
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
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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
This is English history written accessibly, so much so that I plan to play it to my kids aged 15, 13 and 10 (with a massive trigger warning about all the uses of “fucked” and “cunt” or shd I say Cnut throughout). Other than the bad language it’s easily appropriate for any child reared on Horrible Histories and a good dose of the British school primary school history curriculum, and Mitchell does an excellent job of filling in all the gaps and making history FUNNY. I realised as I listened that this is the book I’ve always wanted – it doesn’t zoom in on one particular dynasty or era, but explains how they’re all linked up: which king usurped which, who was waiting in the wings to have a go next. Plus, he underlines nearly every preposterous and fanciful scenario with a vivid and compelling simile which serves to make the story even more readable.
He is master of the comic metaphor — one theme that comes up a couple of times is the idea of history as a long-running television soap opera, with dramatic changes in personnel at the top level reimagined as a big story-line to kill off a bunch of the soap’s characters, hastily organised to satisfy a new advertising contract.
I was gutted to realise that it did not go beyond the Tudors however and fervently hope that he is planning another instalment about the next 400 years. I’d love to hear his analysis of the four Georges and Queen Victoria — so ripe for comedic treatment and David Mitchell is the perfect man to take them on.
Bah. Now what do I listen to?
Feeling bereft without my warm, ribald, centrist companion
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It’s the only audiobook I’ve shouted at.
Irritating
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Hilarious, erudite, thoughtful
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going to listen again straight away
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For a subject I found to be tiresome during my schooling, this book and David’s narration has held me spellbound. The only relief from the boredom of a history lesson at school I had was the sexiness of my teacher. If only my teacher had been David, I might of actually learned something historical rather than just learn that a smart woman can also be very sexy. Something I feel we may both have in common.
Read or listen, this is what The Hitchhikers Guide to The Royals would’ve been like.
Utterly brilliant.
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