The Slimy Stuarts

Horrible Histories #16

by Terry Deary, Martin Brown (Illustrator)

This history book describes the more gruesome side of the Stuart period. It tells why some Stuarts ate toads, snails and fleas, which king picked his nose and never washed his hands, and who wore fish on their feet. Facts about the revolting Roundheads and ghastly Guy Fawkes are given.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Historical, Humor, Comedy, British Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best history books for kids and grown-ups!

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child history was one of my favourite school subjects thus making Horrible Histories the perfect books for me.

Nowadays children have the television series yet I belong to the older group that had the books. Personally, I believe any child who has an interest in history should give these books a go. They’re truly gripping and so many topics are covered.

Honestly, Horrible Histories are well worth a read.

[Emilija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never read the Horrible Histories books as a child, or even watched the tv show until this year, but I seriously wish I had! This was pretty funny, and rather enjoyable, even for me, a twenty-two year old historian. For the most part, it was really good, though the writer seems to take the warming pan story seriously, and we can’t be sure either way if it is true or not.

I just wish that there was another, longer version that went into more detail.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fairly cheap and funny book is the perfect intro to the Stuarts. From crazy cartoons to smelly sick, this book has it all. However, i would've liked to know a little more about the book (like a blurb) before buying it. On the other hand, this seems a silly complaint beside heart-warming, funny, teacher-teasing book. It's very good that Terry Deary (ONE OF MY ROLE MODELS!) makes the real facts A LOT less boring. A really good book if you have little boys! (Though girls like Horrible histories too, boys like gory stuff.)

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amaze your teacher with terrible true tales of dreadful deeds.
Die Tudors sind der Klassiker der Englischen Geschichte, der im Englischunterricht durchgenommen wird. Aber was und wer kamen nach den Tudors? Was wurde aus Maria Stuarts Sohn und dessen Kindern? Welchen Mist haben sie verzapft und waren die Zeit in der sie lebten genauso spannend und ereignisreich wie jene der Tudor Dynastie?
Die "Horrible Histories" sind eine erfolgreiche englische Buchreihe illustrierter, lustiger Geschichtsbücher. Konzipiert ist sie für englische Schulkinder, um ihnen (die) Geschichte schmackhaft zu machen. Die Reihe wurde mittlerweile in 31 Sprachen übersetzt und einige wenige Bände sind auch auf Deutsch erhältlich. Einige Bücher wurden sogar von der BBC als witzige Kinderdokumentation verfilmt, darunter auch dieser Band.
Slimy Stuarts schließt nahtlos an Terrible Tudors an und ist auch als Doppelband erhältlich:
Dieser Band umfasst die Jahre 1603 (Tod Elisabeths I) bis 1714 (Tod Annes) und ist ganz ähnlich aufgebaut wie Terrible Tudors. Es geht um die damalige medizinische Versorgung (oder besser deren Fehlen), das damalige Essen, Krankheiten und Verbrechen und das Leben der Frauen und Kinder unter den Stuarts. Das Ganze wird aufgelockert durch Rätsel und mit Quizfragen mit denen man seinen Lernerfolg überprüfen kann. Einige Kapitel kommen einem aus Slimy Stuarts bekannt vor und die Bücher ähneln sich stark, was wohl daran liegt, dass nicht wirklich viel Zeit vergangen ist und sich so viel nicht geändert hat.
Schon gewusst, dass James I der erste genervte Nichtraucher war, der sich über seine rauchenden Mitbürger aufregte und als wohl erster erkannte: smoking is „harmful to he brain, dangerous to he lungs, and in the black stinking fumes it resembles the smoke of the pit that ist bottomless [Hell].“ Dumm nur, dass die Ärzte damals genau das Gegenteil behaupteten.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This history book describes the more gruesome side of the Stuart period. It tells why some Stuarts ate toads, snails and fleas, which king picked his nose and never washed his hands, and who wore fish on their feet. Facts about the revolting Roundheads and ghastly Guy Fawkes are given.

I really didn't enjoy this book it's so far my least favourite it's not that it wasn't good or the facts wasn't fun it was purely down to the fact that the stuarts and the stuard era was very boring. It was the time of Protestants pretending to be Catholic and if you know your history all the stuarts were all protestants and they was very boring and sad lot of people every thing was sinful. And to start off the stuard era we had the parliament bombing and the birth of Guy Fawkes night who wasn't even the ring leader of the attempt he was just the one caught and was killed because an idiot of the group sent letters to members in parliament not to come so pretty much tipping off the royal guard but hay at least we now have bonfire night in the UK. The stuart period was a dirty and cruel time and as you would exspect horrible now as i mentioned above the book is fun im just not a fan of this period in time is all but as always i reccomened it to all history buffs young and old.

3/5 stars on goodreads

65/100 Ginger points

[Guguk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weh~ yang namanya sejarah itu memang ya... isinya orang-orang ga bener semua (≖ ͜ʖ≖) //ngaca kamu, guk!

Salut lah buat seri ini yang nyeritain kebobrokan bangsa sendiri (Inggris) untuk asupan anak-anak ∑d(°∀°d) Aku baru tau soal Guy Fawkes itu.., ternyata benar-salahnya masih kelabu (´･ᴗ･ ` )

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful read for class.

[Keely · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one manages to get a much lower rating than the others because I felt it wasn't needed to mention Mary Stuarts weight 'Mary was a large woman but there is no record of the damage to the beds' Why is that needed? I worry about kids reading this and thinking it is okay to make jokes about peoples weights. It is not. It shouldn't even be focused on. I wanted to learn about Mary and Williams rule, not how much she weighed. And once again, on page 123, Deary uses the word fat to describe Anne's ass and it is totally not needed.

I'm trying to remember that these books were written in 1996 where these things were the social norm but it still makes me furious. I can't help it.

It is a history book. Not a diet book etc

There is totally no need for it. I want to pull away from the notion that it is okay to humiliate, pick on and make jokes about someone's weight. And jokes like this, put in a popular book where it is accessed by children who may think it is okay to make jokes like this to a classmate because it was in an horrible histories book.

But other than that, the book was great. It was funny as usual and I enjoyed the rest of it, it is just the above issues spoiled the book for me.

[Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rulers after the Tudors were about as interesting and amazing as the Tudors. This history book all about the Stuarts was very informative and I really enjoyed this Terry Deary book full of fantastic figures and fun facts.

[Liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and entertaining way to learn about British history in the reign of the Stuarts. What looks like an easy read at first that may take an hour at most turns out to be an information-rich novel which gives a perfect and entertaining grasp on history. However, I do believe that some parts of this book were hard to read, and I believe that the television series of these Horrible Histories books convey a better and more entertaining view on history, and would highly recommend that series to anyone who is interested in their history. However, these books do give a more detailed account so don't disregard these books for the television series. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in British history.

[Theo Mellor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Obviously this book is for people a lot younger than me but objectively it is just bad. It barely contains any actually history and is basically just a book saying OMG YOU WONT BELIEVE THIS DISGUSTING CRAZY THING THEY DID IN THE 1600s 😱😱😱. The little history it does even include isn’t even 100% accurate on the basic facts. Sometimes it was alright and if they actually tried to write a history book more aimed at younger audiences it would probably be good but the author has focussed on horrible to such an extent that it comes at the detriment of history.

[Andrew Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant quick book with lots of excellent facts about the Stuarts. Perfect to read before teaching the kids at school.

[Sophie Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a banger

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can’t go wrong with horrible histories to be honest.

[Chloe Reads Books]

This one took me a little bit more time than the others - I feel like there was a lot to learn!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My eldest son can't seem to get enough of the books...
The bonus of reading all of these history books to him is that my love of history has grown exponentially. I hated the subject in school... but LOVE it now!! :-)

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just re-read this book. I know less about the Stuarts than I do the Tudors, so this one of the series was a bit more informative for me. I had to laugh out loud when I read this part, "The Illness is Heavy bleeding. The cure would be write the word Veronica on your left thumb." What I really liked about this part is that it is a match the illness with the cure page. Now that really keeps your interest. In reading historical fiction, the conflicts between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers were sometimes mentioned. This book helped explain it a bit.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Slimy Stuarts" is full of foul but fascinating facts about lousy life for the plague-ridden Stuarts. Here you'll find out about suffering school children, revolting Roundheads and crafty Cavaliers. It's a great introduction for me for this book series that somehow makes history less archaic and boring than the usual, and actually makes it fun to learn facts, dates and figures. Kudos to Deary for this effort.


Book Details:

Title The Slimy Stuarts (Horrible Histories)
Author Terry Deary
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun trip through the bits of 17th century England they don't tell you about. But the writer appears to take the slimy "warming pan" story seriously.... as well as the one about the Scottish Convenaters martyred by wicked Richard III The Daughter of Time. Now that's slimy!

[Tahmineh Dehbozorgi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love it!!!!!

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deary does not disappoint in ensuring that Slimy Stuarts is just as gruesome and witty as it is informative. The whole Horrible Histories book series is a truly entertaining means of learning about history. Every time I have recommended the Horrible Histories book series to any child, days later I am inundated with facts and questions- exactly what a non-fiction book ought to do; especially considering such a limited curriculum for teaching history in England! The television series can further support the teaching of history, particular for its jokes and songs. I would highly recommend any book from the series to an aspiring historian in your classroom, as I would for a teacher embarking on an unfamiliar topic. As a historian, it is worth noting that there are some historical inaccuracies which are easily addressed through your own teaching.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to be quite a big fan of the Horrible Histories books back in the day, which is why I bought a box set of the books at a car boot sale when I saw them. It turns out that this is one of the few books remaining that I read as a kid but that I didn’t own.

This isn’t my favourite historical period, but Terry Deary has a knack for making it fun and Martin Brown’s illustrations are fantastic. If you enjoy history then you’ll enjoy this, and that applies whether you’re a child or an adult. I’m just looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. Bring on the rest of history – horrible or not!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing on in my nostalgia driven tour of books I read as a kid, we come to the Slimy Stuarts and the period of their reign after Elizabeth I and before George I. Again, this is a period of history that I didn’t know a great deal about because my own education focused more on James I than anyone else so it was good to see more of the other monarchs.

Also, for some reason, it did not occur to me that Queen Anne was a Stuart?! And yet she was. I could never place her in history, and became really confused whenever I tried to figure out where she came in the list. But now I know.

[Amber Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining read even for adults, but I think "Scandalous Stuarts" would have been much, much more accurate. I don't think "Slimy" describes this era that well--people doing bad things during this time were as "slimy" as any other.
One notable nit I'd pick: The "bedpan story" of James, son of James II being smuggled in by being brought in by a bedpan is presented as both truth and tall tale in this book. It would have been far better to combine these two sections and only discuss this bit of history once.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm thoroughly enjoying rereading these Horrible Histories books that I haven’t read in over a decade! There is plenty of information included that you might not find in more 'traditional' history books.

The cartoons are brilliant and still make me giggle even after all these years and Terry Deary's writing is still as engaging as it was all those years ago.

Even if you're an adult historian you will still enjoy reading these, whether reading them for the first time or rediscovering them!

[Cloaky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Horrible Histories book I've read, and I'll definitely be reading more! Slimy Stuarts covers from the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 through to 1714 when the last of the Stuarts passed away. Its a perfect read for both children and adults! No gory detail is spared which pleases the kids immensely, while the title of the book certainly is perfectly fitting for this Slimy Stuart dynasty!

[Moez Lamti · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've got the regular ingredients, but here the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This is may be helped by how close to modern British history the series gets. It is through the Tudors and Stuarts times that you can understand the present political and cultural orientations in the British isles.

[Ishan Gohel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny way to look at history. Adds a lot of humor and some interesting facts! I read this book in preparation for a Quiz Bowl tournament, and it helped a lot. This is a good book to have with you for World History, and you will know a lot of facts to help you with classwork and tests. Overall, it is a good book!

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining read! Oh, and it has presented me with a "word of the day" for today, and that word is Fustilugs! I won't spoil your surprise - look it up and see if you can find out what a fustilugs is!