Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens

Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - Paperback

$22.00
$22.00
Skip to product information
Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
  • Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - Paperback

Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens - Paperback

by David Mitchell
$22.00
$22.00

Book Overview

by David Mitchell (Author)

INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - A rollicking history of England's kings and queens from Arthur to Elizabeth I, a tale of power, glory, and excessive beheadings by award-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

"Clever, amusing, gloriously bizarre and razor sharp. Mitchell [is] a funny man and a skilled historian."―The Times

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England's monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects' destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.

Taking us back to King Arthur (spoiler: he didn't exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England up to the reign of Elizabeth I (spoiler: she dies). It's a tale of narcissists, inadequate self-control, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and a few Cnuts, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed king.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions that Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history--and won't let it off the hook for the mess it's made.

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the British monarchy came to be--and who is to blame.

Author Biography

David Mitchell is a British comedian, actor, writer, and TV personality, part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, best known in the U.S. for the TV cult classic Peep Show and the Ben Elton-penned historical comedy Upstart Crow, which also became a West End hit. He writes articles for The Guardian and Observer.

Number of Pages: 464
Dimensions: 1.2 x 9.2 x 6.1 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: October 01, 2024
ISBN9780593728505
Author David Mitchell
PublisherCrown Publishing Group (NY)
GenreHistory and Humor & comedy
FormatPaperback
PublishedOctober 2024
LanguageENG- English
Pages464
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

History Humor Nonfiction

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

More by David Mitchell

Silverflexagons and the Flexatube

Silverflexagons and the Flexatube - Paperback

Silverflexagons and the Flexatube - Paperback

By David Mitchell

About David Mitchell

David Mitchell is the author of the novels Ghostwritten, Number9Dream, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, The Bone Clocks, Slade House, and Utopia Avenue. He has been shortlisted twice for the Booker Prize and has won the John Llewellyn Rhys, Geoffrey Faber Memorial, and South Bank Show literature prizes, as well as the World Fantasy Award. In 2018, he received the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence, given in recognition of a writer's entire body of work. In addition, David Mitchell together with KA Yoshida has translated from the Japanese two books by Naoki Higashida The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism and Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8: A Young Man's Voice from the Silence of Autism. Born in 1969, Mitchell grew up in Worcestershire and, after graduating from university, spent several years teaching English in Japan. He now lives in Ireland with his wife and their two children.

You may also like