Horrible Histories

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Horrible Histories

The front cover of France.
Author Terry Deary
Illustrator Martin Brown; Philip Reeve; Peter Hepplewhite
Cover artist Martin Brown; Philip Reeve; Peter Hepplewhite
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Subject(s) Periods of, and people in, history
Genre(s) Children's; history
Publisher Scholastic
Publication date 1993

Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated books published in the United Kingdom and now from 2007 officially in India 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 and illustrated by Martin Brown and Philip Reeve.

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

In May 2007, 8 of the original series of books were relaunched with new covers and extra content. The remainder are in the process of being republished in the new format, with a completion date of January 2009.[1] See Book Makeover.

Contents

[edit] Titles in progress

[edit] 2008

  • Egent Edwardians and the Jolly Jacks Both Realesing - 2 June
  • Angry Aztecs (new style) - 2 June
  • Incredible Incas (new style) - 2 June
  • Wales Special - 2 June
  • Rotten Romans Board Game - July
  • Gory Stories - Tower of Terror (Tudors) - 7 July
  • Gory Stories - The Tomb of Treasure (Egyptians) - 7 July
  • Gory Stories - Wall of Woe (Romans) - 7 July
  • Gory Stories - Cradles, Castles & Curious Crimes (Victorians) - 7 July
  • Annual 2009 - 4 August
  • Terrible Tudors 15th Anniversary Gift Edition - 9 August
  • Trenches Handbook - September
  • Rotten Romans Shuffle Puzzle Book - 3 September
  • Horrible Christmas flexibound edition - October
  • Awful Egyptians New Cover- Novemeber
  • Awful Egyptians Pop-Up - October
  • Calendar 2009 - unknown date

[edit] 2009 plans

  • Even More Terrible Tudors New Cover
  • Ruthless Romans New Cover
  • Gory Stories - Vikings - February
  • Blitz Handbook - March
  • Computer Game - March
  • Mini Keyring Book - April
  • Gory Stories - Blitz - May
  • Press-Out-And-Build Book - June
  • Annual 2010 - August
  • Gory Stories - Greeks - September
  • TV Series Tie-ins - September
  • Top Trumps game - September
  • Spies Handbook - September
  • The Wicked History of Britain - 7 September
  • Horrible Christmas republishing - October
  • Who's Horrible in History - October
  • Egyptians Shuffle Puzzle Book

[edit] 2010+ plans

Details on Terry Deary's website are vague; however the following can be deduced from his diary:

  • 4 TV Tie-ins - February 2010
  • 2 handbooks - titles unknown - March & July 2010
  • Keyring Book 2 - April 2010
  • Huge Book 2 - June 2010
  • Annual 2011 - August 2010
  • Horrible Christmas republishing - September 2010
  • Who's Horrible in History - flexi edition - September 2010
  • 4 TV Tie-ins - October 2010
  • Gory Stories - World War I - date unknown
  • Loathsome London City Play - date unknown
  • The Frightful First World War Play - date unknown
  • The Blitz Play - date unknown

[edit] Titles in the series

France.
France.

[edit] 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:

[edit] Ordinary books

These are the original books that began the famous series:

  • The Angry Aztecs
  • The Awesome Egyptians
  • The Awful Egyptians
  • The Barmy British Empire
  • The Blitzed Brits
  • The Cut Throat Celts
  • Egent Edwardians
  • Even More Terrible Tudors
  • The Frightful First World War
  • The Gorgeous Georgians
  • The Groovy Greeks
  • The Incredible Incas
  • The Jolly Jacks
  • The Measly Middle Ages
  • The Rotten Romans
  • The Ruthless Romans
  • The Savage Stone Age
  • The Slimy Stuarts
  • The Smashing Saxons
  • The Stormin' Normans
  • The Terrible Tudors
  • The Vicious Vikings
  • The Vile Victorians
  • The Villainous Victorians
  • The Woeful Second World War

[edit] Horrible Histories Two in One

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
  • Egent Edwardians and the Jolly Jacks
  • Horribly Huge Book of Awful Egyptians and Ruthless Romans

[edit] Novelty books

According to the Scholastics [1] website,

  • The Horrible (Wicked) History of the World
  • Awesome Annual 2007
  • Annual 2008
  • The Mad Miscellany
  • Cruel Crime & Painful Punishment
  • Action Packs: Awful Egyptians

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

[edit] 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:

  • Australia
  • Bloody Scotland
  • Cruel Kings and Mean Queens
  • England
  • Fat and Fasting Future
  • France
  • Ireland
  • Rotten Rulers
  • Rowdy Revolutions
  • The Twentieth (20th) Century
  • The USA
  • Wales
  • Wicked Words

[edit] 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.) They consist of:

  • Oxford
  • Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Dublin
  • York
  • Edinburgh
  • Loathsome London
  • Sad Sydney, Australia


[edit] Handbooks

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

  • Warriors
  • Knights
  • Pirates
  • Witches
  • Villains
  • The Horrible History of the World

[edit] 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
  • The Horribly Huge (Massive Millennium) Quiz Book

[edit] Others

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

  • Dreadful Diary
  • The Mad Millennium
  • Poisonous Postcards

[edit] Sticker & Activity Books

See Sticker and Activity Books

[edit] Horrible Histories fiction

See Horrible Histories Fiction

[edit] Christmas books

  • Horrible Christmas
  • The Big Fat Father Christmas Book

[edit] Book Makeover

On 7 May 2007, eight of the original series of Horrible Histories books were republished with a new look and new content. According to the Horrible Herald [2] (a fictitious newspaper made by Terry Deary), the new books have more information on the back cover, an index and lots more quiz questions. The initial eight were:

  • Awesome Egyptians
  • Groovy Greeks
  • Measly Middle Ages
  • Rotten Romans
  • Terrible Tudors
  • Vicious Vikings
  • Vile Victorians
  • Woeful Second World War
  • Egent Edwardians
  • Jolly Jacks

Ten more titles have since been republished:

  • Frightful First World War
  • Blitzed Brits
  • Stormin' Normans
  • Smashing Saxons
  • Gorgeous Georgians
  • Slimy Stuarts
  • Savage Stone Age
  • Cut Throat Celts
  • Villainous Victorians
  • Barmy British Empire

June 2008 will see Angry Aztecs and Incredible Incas hit the shelves in the new format. However, when the remaining three books in the series (Awful Egyptians, Ruthless Romans and Even More Terrible Tudors - the latter will probably have a change of title) will be published is unclear. According to Terry Deary's website[1], August 2008 and November 08/January 09 are both possible dates.

[edit] Contradictions

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.

[edit] 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 [2].

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[2].

According to Terry Deary's homepage "Several of the books have been banned in some places" [3].

[edit] Exibition

At the end of 2007, Terry Deary announced that he would be releasing an exhibition, based on one of his most successful books, Frightful First World War. Deary has partnered up with Imperial War Museum to create an educational yet fun and enjoyable viewing. It is scheduled to be opened on the 24th of May. [3]

[edit] Sticker and activity books

See Horrible Histories (other media)

[edit] Audio tapes

See Horrible Histories (other media)

[edit] Magazines

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 breakfast cereal. Here is a list of the 60 Issues of the Magazine in the order in which they are received:

Magazine 5: The Measly Middle Ages
Magazine 5: The Measly Middle Ages

There have also been three 'special' magazines in the series.

They are:

The collection will be relaunched in the UK in September 2009 [1].

[edit] TV

See Horrible Histories (TV Series)

[edit] Kellogs/Telegraph audiobooks

See Horrible Histories (other media)

[edit] Fictions

See Horrible Histories (other media)

[edit] Spin-offs

There have been several spin-offs written in a similar style to Horrible Histories:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Deary Diary", House of Adventure, URL retrieved 7 April 2008
  2. ^ a b "Horrible Histories Causes Havoc", House of Books, URL retrieved 24 December 2006
  3. ^ <ref>[http://www.terry-deary.net/shop/pages/horrhistory.html "Horrible Histories Causes Havoc"], House of Books, URL retrieved Fri Oct 26 17:51:52 CEST 2007</li></ol></ref>

[edit] External links