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The Rest Is History

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About this listen

 Bloomsbury presents The Rest is History by The Rest is History, read by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook.

'An idiosyncratic ride through history' Independent
'Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times

The nation’s favourite historians, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, take on the most curious moments in history, answering the questions we didn’t even think to ask…

- What was the most disastrous party in history?
- How did a hair appointment almost blow Churchill’s cover?
- Why did the Nazis believe they were descended from the people of Atlantis?
- What made Alfred the Great so great?

From a British political leader who allegedly plotted to feed his lover to alligators, to a Brazilian emperor whose subjects mistook him for a banana, there is nothing too big or too small for Tom and Dominic to unpick.©2023 Goalhanger Podcasts (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 20th Century Military Modern Funny War Witty Thought-Provoking Ancient Greece Winston Churchill Ancient History
All stars
Most relevant
Great chunks are directly taken from the Podcast.
Save the credit , not worth it.

Same as Podcast but without debate

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I’m a massive fan of the podcast so it was pretty obvious I’d enjoy this. The Real Da Vinci Code is the funniest chapter in an audiobook I’ve ever listened to.

A tour de force

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If you like history and wanted to stay entertained theses guys are the very best!

Best in the business

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Here’s a historical television reference for you, which sums up my experience perfectly: Mr Ben. The popular 1970’s children’s television animation in which the titular character would enter the same costume shop in each episode, be met by the assistant who, “magically appeared,” pick an outfit and, once having donned it in the dressing room, he would step through another door and into a magical adventure, themed around the outfit he’d chosen, be it an astronaut, a cowboy, a knight in armour, you get the idea.
Well, these guys don’t just tell you a bunch of stuff about an eclectic collection of historical periods that you didn’t already know, but they find such inventive, creative and imaginative ways to do it that it sticks in your head, along with the pronounced sensation of having been thoroughly entertained.
Through their deft use of satire, correspondence (some fictionalised), Top Trumps, sketches, hilarious impersonations and many other techniques, as engrossing as they are pitch perfect for the material in hand, they have found a way to draw in people with little knowledge of history by making it fun and interesting; whilst simultaneously rewarding the history buffs with too many references and gags to count that make you go, “Ah, I see what you did there. Clever.”
It genuinely made me feel like a kid again, going on these vastly different adventures, one after another, never quite knowing what to expect, often having those expectations subverted, and ultimately feeling just so glad that I took a chance on this book! A perfect Christmas gift, a perfect gift full stop. Even if you’re buying it for yourself, it feels like such a gift.
I’m off to listen to the sequel now. I’m just glad there’s MORE of this stuff out there!

Genuinely, The Most Pleasant Surprise I’ve Had This Year! Magical.

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I love history and was quite excited to get this but I marked it as finished with 6 hours to go. The presenters simply got on my nerves with their silly comments. Was it written for children? Fir teenagers? I’m not sure if they knew who their audience was. The poor editing didn’t help. Some bits they seemed to have added in stood out a mile. Maybe they recorded some of it in a hotel room? Or maybe an occasional cheap mic? I’m sure it’s ok as a podcast - it seems popular in that format. But as a history book it just didn’t work for me. It’s probably my fault thinking it was a historical “book” rather than a piece of entertainment.

Disappointed

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