Stick A Flag In It - Arran Lomas

 

So pleased to be on the Blog Tour for this book today.

Description

From the Norman Invasion in 1066 to the eve of the First World War, Stick a Flag in It is a thousand-year jocular journey through the history of Britain and its global empire.

The British people have always been eccentric, occasionally ingenious and, sure, sometimes unhinged from mad monarchs to mass-murdering lepers. Here, Arran Lomas shows us how they harnessed those traits to forge the British nation, and indeed the world, we know today.

Follow history s greatest adventurers from the swashbuckling waters of the Caribbean to the vast white wasteland of the Antarctic wilderness, like the British spy who infiltrated a top-secret Indian brothel and the priest who hid inside a wall but forgot to bring a packed lunch. At the very least you'll discover Henry VIII's favourite a***-wipe, whether the flying alchemist ever made it from Scotland to France, and the connection between Victorian coffee houses and dildos.

Forget what you were taught in school this is history like you've never heard it before, full of captivating historical quirks that will make you laugh out loud and scratch your head in disbelief.

Review

My problem is I was never taught history in school! We were part of a revolutionary new way of learning to detect things and then apply it to understand history. As a consequence I am always on the hunt for history, but in an accessible way, this is just the book to do it. I don't want to learn by rote and this is as far from that as you can get. Within pages of starting the book I had learnt about Matilda (who I had never heard of) and her role post 1066. Even I have heard of 1066 however not the down to earth telling of the tale within the pages of this book.

With the unique witty writing of the author you will find yourself racing through history in an enjoyable way.  At the end of the book is a wonderful index of every character you might wish to look up in the book from history. Including the Cromwell's - all three of them, which I realise over the years I had mixed up in my head as being one person or maybe two but not three. Thankfully I've got a handle on them all now because of this book.

So for me this has been more than just a comedic journey through 1,000 years of history, it's actually been a history lesson too. If you're already well versed in the line of the throne and such like, then you will definitely enjoy the escapades that previous history books (or school) didn't tell you about. 

I'm giving this book five out of five stars. My thanks to Random Things tours, Unbounded and the author for a copy of the book to review.

About the Author

Arran Lomas is the man behind the hit YouTube channel Thoughty2. Since 2012 he has created videos on every topic from space, crime and medicine to conspiracy theories, food and social issues – and, of course, history. He was raised in Lancashire – the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution – and has always been captivated by the world around him, driving him to uncover its history and secrets.