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151 reviews for:
The Rest Is History: From Ancient Rome to Ronald Reagan--History's Most Curious Questions, Answered
Goalhanger Podcasts
3.74 AVERAGE
151 reviews for:
The Rest Is History: From Ancient Rome to Ronald Reagan--History's Most Curious Questions, Answered
Goalhanger Podcasts
3.74 AVERAGE
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
The humour didn’t quite land for me in book form, but I imagine it probably works better as a podcast (which I haven’t listened to yet!). I found myself losing focus and figured I’d stop before it dragged me into a slump.
One for another time… maybe.
One for another time… maybe.
funny
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Note: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.
This book certainly brings history to life in a quirky, podcast-like manner. Yet, I understand where you're coming from—the mix of humor and historical content might feel a bit unbalanced. It's like they leaned a bit too much into the jokes, right? Sometimes the humor took center stage, and the deep dive into history felt a tad overshadowed. Like they brought the podcast vibe but left behind some of the really interesting historical bits that made the show great. It's still fun, but maybe not as packed with facts as some readers might've expected!
This book certainly brings history to life in a quirky, podcast-like manner. Yet, I understand where you're coming from—the mix of humor and historical content might feel a bit unbalanced. It's like they leaned a bit too much into the jokes, right? Sometimes the humor took center stage, and the deep dive into history felt a tad overshadowed. Like they brought the podcast vibe but left behind some of the really interesting historical bits that made the show great. It's still fun, but maybe not as packed with facts as some readers might've expected!
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
This book is a poor attempt at selling history to a broad and general audience. It fails in its objectives, is misleading, and becomes incredibly boring for extended stretches of chapters.
First, I'd like to address my intentions when I picked up this book. Tom Holland is an established and renowned historian whose works are recommended in some of my university history courses. I had also heard of his podcast with Dominic Sandbrook, the second author of this book, and thoroughly enjoyed the episodes I listened to.
This is one of the main reasons I was so incredibly disappointed in this book. From authors like these, you would expect them to be able to convey correct historical and mythological information in an interesting manner, which is exactly what they failed at.
In the subtitle of this book, it claims to answer "history's most curious questions". But as I made progress, reached the halfway-point of this book, and was suddenly finished, I noticed a trend: It is extremely biased and anglo-centristic. I could count the stories that didn't talk about something historical from the Western world on one hand.
To counter that, Boris Johnson was mentioned on about every third page, and after the second mention of James Corden, I had enough.
I would have loved to learn more about the curious history of countries that aren't necessarily covered in school - Columbus, the Roman Empire, or the Tudors, definitely are
It also includes false information: The authors claim that Hercules is the son of Zeus - multiple times. And whilst one may argue that this isn't historically incorrect, since mythology technically didn't happen, I still believe this to be confusing and inappropriate in this setting.
Furthermore, this book is written like it's supposed to reach an audience of twelve-year-olds. Despite its heavy themes like genital mutilation, death and war, as well as slavery and genocide, parts of the writing could fit in an SNL skit.
I get the humorous approach to complicated and complex parts of our history, but this was simply executed badly and feels like they're making fun of the victims of history.
If you'd like a general introduction to history and some fun facts, this isn't the right choice.
First, I'd like to address my intentions when I picked up this book. Tom Holland is an established and renowned historian whose works are recommended in some of my university history courses. I had also heard of his podcast with Dominic Sandbrook, the second author of this book, and thoroughly enjoyed the episodes I listened to.
This is one of the main reasons I was so incredibly disappointed in this book. From authors like these, you would expect them to be able to convey correct historical and mythological information in an interesting manner, which is exactly what they failed at.
In the subtitle of this book, it claims to answer "history's most curious questions". But as I made progress, reached the halfway-point of this book, and was suddenly finished, I noticed a trend: It is extremely biased and anglo-centristic. I could count the stories that didn't talk about something historical from the Western world on one hand.
To counter that, Boris Johnson was mentioned on about every third page, and after the second mention of James Corden, I had enough.
I would have loved to learn more about the curious history of countries that aren't necessarily covered in school - Columbus, the Roman Empire, or the Tudors, definitely are
It also includes false information: The authors claim that Hercules is the son of Zeus - multiple times. And whilst one may argue that this isn't historically incorrect, since mythology technically didn't happen, I still believe this to be confusing and inappropriate in this setting.
Furthermore, this book is written like it's supposed to reach an audience of twelve-year-olds. Despite its heavy themes like genital mutilation, death and war, as well as slavery and genocide, parts of the writing could fit in an SNL skit.
I get the humorous approach to complicated and complex parts of our history, but this was simply executed badly and feels like they're making fun of the victims of history.
If you'd like a general introduction to history and some fun facts, this isn't the right choice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Genocide, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, War
funny
informative
fast-paced
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
funny
informative
medium-paced
5 stars, no notes. another way i want to indulge in history