Feeling bereft without my warm, ribald, centrist companion

David Mitchell has been my funny, easy going, bookish mate for the last week. I have often wished we were down the pub together, getting geekily excited about idiot monarchs and hilarious royal fails over a pint or two (I wish). That is the tone: divulging serious stuff, yet ineffably friendly, effortlessly pinpointing the most ridiculous/inexplicable/farcical aspects of each anecdote, and often detouring into amusing tangents (eg having a favourite eye; a rant about killing off James Bond).

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?

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3 people found this helpful

Fascinating interpretation

I like David Mitchell, so I thought this might be good, I had no interest in the subject matter,( having long considered the British royal family the overhyped descendants of a bunch of opportunistic gangsters,) but David made them interesting.

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Engagingly Moorish

Would love David to do more history books! I found this unable to stop listening too due to his delivery and also his clear use of a time line helped keep me focused. I have ADHD but love history and sometimes it’s hard to keep me engaged but this was really fun for me. Thank you DM!

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Clever, witty, refreshing look at the earlier history of our monarchy.

What’s not to like about the writings of David Mitchell. Having overcome the setback in his education of ending up at Oxford where he studied History, he has gone on to become one of the better writers of our time. In this book his passion for all things historical shines through. Always a pleasure to hear his work.

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Binged

Couldn’t stop listening to this book. Regardless of having the print copy, nothing beats hearing the author read their own work.

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Brilliant conclusion.

I hope someone in the ‘royal family’ reads / listens to this but I doubt they will as critical self- awareness doesn’t seem to be one of their key characteristics.

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Brilliant and funny

This is a very entertaining and knowledgeable book. It is really funny too. Well done. David Mitchell I loved it. Recommend it if you’re a history buff.

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Ridiculously Funny

Thoroughly enjoyed this- some great insights well told with wonderful comedic timing

Imagine AJP Taylor in the style of Peep Show

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Brilliant

I can't recommend this audio book highly enough. David Mitchel manages to get across his enthusiasm for his subject while both educating you and, most importantly, keeping you amused. If history had been this good at school, I might have been more interested.

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Hilarious, erudite, thoughtful

What a great book this was. Great to have David Mitchell reading it. For those just looking for a funny history book, you’ll love it. But there’s also a thesis running through it, best summed up in its final chapter.

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