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The Interesting Bits: The History You Might Have Missed
Did you give your school history lessons your undivided attention?
Even if you did, you're probably none the wiser as to how exactly Henry II of France came to have a two-foot splinter in his head, or why Alexandra of Bavaria believed she had swallowed a piano. Or where terms like bunkum, maverick, John Bull and taking the mickey come from; or how the Tsarina of Russia once saved a life with a comma; or why Robert Pate hit Queen Victoria on the head with a walking stick.
For some unknown reason, the most interesting bits of history are kept out of lessons and away from syllabuses. Relegated to history's footnotes, they lie buried beneath the dense text like a few golden nuggets in a mountain of granite.
Now "The Interesting Bits" rights this wrong; it is a veritable treasure trove of those surprising, eccentric, chaotic, baffling asides that don't fit neatly into history's official narrative.
They are history's little-known treasures - the gems that generations of teachers have excised from lessons on the grounds that they might make history too much like - well - fun.
Even if you did, you're probably none the wiser as to how exactly Henry II of France came to have a two-foot splinter in his head, or why Alexandra of Bavaria believed she had swallowed a piano. Or where terms like bunkum, maverick, John Bull and taking the mickey come from; or how the Tsarina of Russia once saved a life with a comma; or why Robert Pate hit Queen Victoria on the head with a walking stick.
For some unknown reason, the most interesting bits of history are kept out of lessons and away from syllabuses. Relegated to history's footnotes, they lie buried beneath the dense text like a few golden nuggets in a mountain of granite.
Now "The Interesting Bits" rights this wrong; it is a veritable treasure trove of those surprising, eccentric, chaotic, baffling asides that don't fit neatly into history's official narrative.
They are history's little-known treasures - the gems that generations of teachers have excised from lessons on the grounds that they might make history too much like - well - fun.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
3 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Justin Pollard
18 books99 followersJustin Pollard was born in Hertfordshire and educated at St. Albans School and Downing College, Cambridge where he was president of the Poohsticks Society.
Since then he has written nine books, a few articles for magazines like History Today, BBC History Magazine and the Idler and he is currently one of the writers of the BBC panel show QI.
He is one of the founders of Unbound - http://www.unbound.co.uk - a new crowd-funding site putting authors directly in touch with their readers.
He also runs a company called Visual Artefact which provides scripting and historical advice for feature films. His credits include Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Elizabeth’, Joe Wright’s ‘Atonement’, Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Pirates of the Caribbean 4.
In television drama he is the historical consultant for the BBC TV/Showtime series ‘The Tudors’ - which gets him into a lot of trouble with other historians.
He is also the co-founder of crowd-funding book website www.unbound.co.uk.
He lives in Dorset where he grows vegetables and wonders where all the sheep have gone.
Since then he has written nine books, a few articles for magazines like History Today, BBC History Magazine and the Idler and he is currently one of the writers of the BBC panel show QI.
He is one of the founders of Unbound - http://www.unbound.co.uk - a new crowd-funding site putting authors directly in touch with their readers.
He also runs a company called Visual Artefact which provides scripting and historical advice for feature films. His credits include Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Elizabeth’, Joe Wright’s ‘Atonement’, Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Pirates of the Caribbean 4.
In television drama he is the historical consultant for the BBC TV/Showtime series ‘The Tudors’ - which gets him into a lot of trouble with other historians.
He is also the co-founder of crowd-funding book website www.unbound.co.uk.
He lives in Dorset where he grows vegetables and wonders where all the sheep have gone.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 10, 2019
The Interesting Bits: The History You Might Have is one of those wonderful entertaining and informative books on the lines of QI.
Justin Pollard has that wonderful knack of writing short, concise and so satisfying descriptions of the bits of History that we have missed.
As you would expect from a writer of the fabulous QI TV show Pollard knows his stuff and what’s more knows how to get it across in the most interesting way.
He has a great style that is easy to read and so addictive- it’s like literacy crack cocaine with out the side effects.
More like the best box of deluxe chocolates and so very moreish.
What I found interesting was just how many of the unusual stories were interlinked.
When giving us a account of an event he cross references it with another item in the book and I just wonder how when he was researching his book he found his material so easy to source and wonders how he managed to pick and chose which ones to include and which to exclude.
The good news is that he has two further books in the series and the source of new ones seems unending.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Brita...?
This is a fabulous book that I loved dipping into and, when finding he has two others I immediately ordered them.
The only fault I can find is that the neutral covers simply do not do justice to the fabulous contents.
If this is your first by him then I envy you starting out in reading them and being royally entertained.
Totally one hundred per cent recommended.
Justin Pollard has that wonderful knack of writing short, concise and so satisfying descriptions of the bits of History that we have missed.
As you would expect from a writer of the fabulous QI TV show Pollard knows his stuff and what’s more knows how to get it across in the most interesting way.
He has a great style that is easy to read and so addictive- it’s like literacy crack cocaine with out the side effects.
More like the best box of deluxe chocolates and so very moreish.
What I found interesting was just how many of the unusual stories were interlinked.
When giving us a account of an event he cross references it with another item in the book and I just wonder how when he was researching his book he found his material so easy to source and wonders how he managed to pick and chose which ones to include and which to exclude.
The good news is that he has two further books in the series and the source of new ones seems unending.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Brita...?
This is a fabulous book that I loved dipping into and, when finding he has two others I immediately ordered them.
The only fault I can find is that the neutral covers simply do not do justice to the fabulous contents.
If this is your first by him then I envy you starting out in reading them and being royally entertained.
Totally one hundred per cent recommended.
June 5, 2008
History is often presented either as a dry list of people and dates or as a web of interconnectedness and 'cause and effect' beyond the comprehension of anyone without a degree in the subject.
But it can, and should be so much more according to the author of this book. Each entry is an answer to a question which might be posed in an episode of QI, and the answers are rarely more than a page or two in length.
Examples include 'Which English Kings exploded?' and 'Which Pope was accused of piracy?'.
An enjoyable exploration of alternative history focusing on the amusing rather than the geo-political.
But it can, and should be so much more according to the author of this book. Each entry is an answer to a question which might be posed in an episode of QI, and the answers are rarely more than a page or two in length.
Examples include 'Which English Kings exploded?' and 'Which Pope was accused of piracy?'.
An enjoyable exploration of alternative history focusing on the amusing rather than the geo-political.
November 15, 2019
Plot
For some unknown reason the most interesting bits of history are kept out of lessons and away from syllabuses. Now, 'The Interesting Bits' rights this wrong. It is a treasure trove of those surprising, eccentric, chaotic, baffling asides that don't fit neatly into history's official narrative.
Review
Horrible Histories for grown ups is the best way of describing this really funny read. As an historian, I knew most of the facts in here already but Justin Pollard gives these facts in short, snappy ways to allow those with even a passing interest in history to love this book. Some of the facts are sad but most will have you giggling if not spitting out your tea.
A really fun read for Non-Fiction November
Rating
4 stars
Recommend
Yes - especially for those who love their history.
For some unknown reason the most interesting bits of history are kept out of lessons and away from syllabuses. Now, 'The Interesting Bits' rights this wrong. It is a treasure trove of those surprising, eccentric, chaotic, baffling asides that don't fit neatly into history's official narrative.
Review
Horrible Histories for grown ups is the best way of describing this really funny read. As an historian, I knew most of the facts in here already but Justin Pollard gives these facts in short, snappy ways to allow those with even a passing interest in history to love this book. Some of the facts are sad but most will have you giggling if not spitting out your tea.
A really fun read for Non-Fiction November
Rating
4 stars
Recommend
Yes - especially for those who love their history.
February 29, 2024
Remember reading this a lot when I was younger, and have been rereading it the last few weeks as something for when I'm trying to get to sleep. Definitely one of the better of these miscellany-type books, each individual snippet is engagingly written and appropriately brief (usually half a page to just over a page) while still conveying enough about the events and their context to be worthwhile.
Probably the source of a good chunk of the stupid knowledge I wasted my time finding out about, but not being able to usefully recollect, as a teenager (cadaver synod; Disraeli razzing both Gladstone and Victoria on separate occasions; ball of the burning men etc.). Nothing particulary earth-shattering or thought-provoking, but ultimately that's not really what these sort of books are for.
Probably the source of a good chunk of the stupid knowledge I wasted my time finding out about, but not being able to usefully recollect, as a teenager (cadaver synod; Disraeli razzing both Gladstone and Victoria on separate occasions; ball of the burning men etc.). Nothing particulary earth-shattering or thought-provoking, but ultimately that's not really what these sort of books are for.
August 21, 2024
This book would be SO MUCH BETTER if each snippet had a little of introductory info such as which country and century it was talking about. It jumps from country to country and from circa 900 to circa 1900!! Very confusing especially when the years and countries aren’t even mentioned in the snippet
June 5, 2017
Good, but best read in small bits.
The illustrations are charming.
The illustrations are charming.
March 18, 2019
Good for dipping in and out of, but not to read all in one
May 22, 2024
Daily snippets of fun history
Read
June 12, 2020I believe there are roughly three types of books: The book you can't bear to put down after a few pages; the book you can't bear to keep reading after a few pages and the book you can pick up or put down as the mood takes you. This is an intriguing combination of the first and third. It was easy to slip in and out of but somewhat compelling at the same time. Whilst I wasn't to read it for hours at a time, I did find myself picking it up whenever I had a spare few moments. It kept drawing me back.
That's the beauty of the book for me. Waiting for a bus? Find out 'What was unusual about St Solange's head?'. A few quiet minutes before the kids get home? Find out 'What new name was given the river Pissa?'. It's a time-filler book for me. The title 'The Interesting Bits' is quite fitting because in the midst of mundane tasks (waiting the bath to fill, the pasta to boil etc) I can read a page or two and make it less tedious.
You don't need to be a history buff. The book is well-written in that it doesn't take itself too seriously (what do you expect from one of the writers of 'QI') and yet appears to have been well researched. It provides some facts but not too many to put you to sleep. And it's a book that many people will enjoy. I can already think of three people who might enjoy a copy for Christmas.
It has a good mix of 'bits', covering a wide range of time periods and locations.
Its only downfall is the size. It isn't quite pocket sized and it took a bit of rearranging to get it into my handbag every day. But that said, it is no worse than many other books and to make it any smaller would mean cutting content or making the font tiny. Therefore, I can well forgive the size in favour of the rest of the design and the content.
That's the beauty of the book for me. Waiting for a bus? Find out 'What was unusual about St Solange's head?'. A few quiet minutes before the kids get home? Find out 'What new name was given the river Pissa?'. It's a time-filler book for me. The title 'The Interesting Bits' is quite fitting because in the midst of mundane tasks (waiting the bath to fill, the pasta to boil etc) I can read a page or two and make it less tedious.
You don't need to be a history buff. The book is well-written in that it doesn't take itself too seriously (what do you expect from one of the writers of 'QI') and yet appears to have been well researched. It provides some facts but not too many to put you to sleep. And it's a book that many people will enjoy. I can already think of three people who might enjoy a copy for Christmas.
It has a good mix of 'bits', covering a wide range of time periods and locations.
Its only downfall is the size. It isn't quite pocket sized and it took a bit of rearranging to get it into my handbag every day. But that said, it is no worse than many other books and to make it any smaller would mean cutting content or making the font tiny. Therefore, I can well forgive the size in favour of the rest of the design and the content.
February 1, 2014
I subscribe to a newsletter called Now I Know, which sends a daily factoid. This book is essentially like taking several years’ worth of those and packing them into one publication (you can actually buy a Now I Know book too).
Filled with anecdotes about the weird minutia of history, grouped together into vaguely related topic categories, the book attempts to capture the everyday oddities, rather than the world-changing events normally documented.
In most cases, the tidbits were fairly interesting, but they were equally banal enough that it was obvious as to why they haven’t made it into more general books on history.
There’s so many of them too. It took me so long to read this (I started in 2012) because I started to tune out halfway through, it became like listening to someone wittering on, the words just washing over me. When I came back to it, I wondered why I had stopped, but it quickly became a slog again.
It would have been better to pick a few of the choicest stories per section and looked at them in more detail, rather than trying to cram in as much as possible. Or perhaps a different delivery method would have been better (a daily newsletter, perhaps?).
Incidentally, Pollard is a writer on the TV show QI, and I did notice several of the anecdotes have come up in the series.
It’s not a bad book, just not very engaging as a straight read. I was only reading a couple at a time too (before bed). If you find yourself stuck on tube platforms or wherever for five minutes at a time, then this would be perfect (on a Kindle or smartphone, for example, for convenience).
Filled with anecdotes about the weird minutia of history, grouped together into vaguely related topic categories, the book attempts to capture the everyday oddities, rather than the world-changing events normally documented.
In most cases, the tidbits were fairly interesting, but they were equally banal enough that it was obvious as to why they haven’t made it into more general books on history.
There’s so many of them too. It took me so long to read this (I started in 2012) because I started to tune out halfway through, it became like listening to someone wittering on, the words just washing over me. When I came back to it, I wondered why I had stopped, but it quickly became a slog again.
It would have been better to pick a few of the choicest stories per section and looked at them in more detail, rather than trying to cram in as much as possible. Or perhaps a different delivery method would have been better (a daily newsletter, perhaps?).
Incidentally, Pollard is a writer on the TV show QI, and I did notice several of the anecdotes have come up in the series.
It’s not a bad book, just not very engaging as a straight read. I was only reading a couple at a time too (before bed). If you find yourself stuck on tube platforms or wherever for five minutes at a time, then this would be perfect (on a Kindle or smartphone, for example, for convenience).
December 23, 2011
History is not simply the extension of the present back into the past; it is a very strange and very different country. Nor does history have a grand direction, although many history books imply that it does. History wanders around, often drunk, frequently bumping into things and ususally eschewing anything that might look like progress for another sustained period in full reverse.
The history I did have missed was the most interesting and amusing!
The history I did have missed was the most interesting and amusing!
June 12, 2012
Pollard has a few books that are collections of anecdotal tidbits from history. They're usually a great deal of fun, but I'm afraid I spoiled this one a bit by re-reading a few of his funnier retellings beforehand, like the one about the pickled knight. Anyway, this collection is still enjoyable, but only the saint related stories made me chuckle aloud.
March 13, 2015
This is a fun book but the extreme brevity of the articles is kind of in line with the QI series. Some great stuff and a few laugh out loud moments, but the beauty of the written format is that you have more space, and the author doesn't take the opportunity to expound or elucidate further. still, not a bad read.
February 20, 2010
I found this book surprisingly dull
March 28, 2010
I picked this book up randomly in London. Is it trite to say it's interesting? It really was. It's not life-changing, it's just fun and funny history.
February 5, 2011
A pleasant enough book, with an easy-to-read style...but nothing earth-shattering.
June 27, 2020
Easy to read, interesting facts that you will want to tell people after reading. Would recommend to anyone who likes history.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews