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An Utterly Impartial History of Britain or 2000 Years of Upper-class Idiots in Charge | 
| Author: John O'farrell
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £9.50
You Save: £7.49 (44%)
New (19) Used (14) Collectible (5) from £3.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 3680
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.8
ISBN: 0385611986
EAN: 9780385611985
ASIN: 0385611986
Publication Date: October 22, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Brilliant reminder of our history August 1, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This should be compulsory reading for schools - a brilliant reminder of our history preesented in a light hearted, easy to read way. Nothing like '1066- and all that' as one reviewer has stated much more subtle humour than that. I don't see that it is a totally 'impartial' history but leans a little to the authors politics. However, this never gets in the way of a good read.
 So-so July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
O'Farrell sets out to provide a readable version of British history, which he largely succeeds in. However, the book is let down by a number of factors - the history of Wales and Scotland are largely ignored except where they interact with that of England; and the "humour" gets a bit boring and predictable after a while. It is also difficult to tell in places what is joke and what is fact. Some areas of history which are open to interpretation are also presented in a way which makes it appear that not only is O'Farrell's account the correct one, but that it is also the only one.
 Very funny as well as interesting July 20, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you like Blackadder-like humor then this book is perfect for you. It covers the entire history of England and is very easy to read. Whether everything stated in this book is factually correct I don't know, but it's a good laugh nonetheless.
Irony & Sarcasm at its best... June 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is obvious that judging by the book title this isn't going to be on the reading list of a history course at university, and that is why I bought it, and thrice more as gifts! I am surprised at all those who were surprised that it wasn't a completely serious book (hence the title), what on earth did they expect?
For a very broad overview of Britain's history this book does the job. It is in short easy to read sections with humour on (almost) every page, with some bowel bursting funny bits. So if you like to dip in and out of books, enjoy history and have a laugh this is a good one. If you're studying history and don't enjoy humour, then maybe you are a descendant of those in the second half of the title and you deserve to be miserable!
ps The conversation at the end between the ghostly historical characters is sublime. How fitting to end with the offer to put the kettle on and make a cup of tea!
light history May 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
2000 years of history in a bit under 600 pages cant be bad - right?
Well for me it was pretty good. The author keeps the narrative ticking over with the barest headlines from each period and enough jokes to keep things light weight. Fine for holiday reading or when you want something a little deeper than The Sun. However, as many with a more serious bent will point out there is a lot of summarising going on, but what do you expect for a comedy/history hybrid?
As long as you know what you're buying (light weight history of Britain, not an authoratitive thesis on proto-European politics/economics/military strategy and you're not a pedant) you'll get on with the book just fine
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