Unexpected Britain: A Journey Through Our Hidden History

by Stuart Laycock, Philip Laycock

Many Britons like to think they have a basic understanding of Britain's amazing history. The Roman invasion, Alfred and the Danes, 1066, Magna Carta, Bannockburn, Agincourt, Wars of the Roses, Henry and his wives, the Reformation, etc., etc. The trouble is that concentrating on just a few over-familiar landmarks like these can give a distorted picture of the land we live in. What would our history look like if, instead of looking at all the bits everybody knows, we started telling it through some of the bits not everybody knows? We set off to find out. The result is Unexpected Britain, tracing the story of Britain from a time before Rome to a time within the lives of people still living, but going beyond the well-known to explore a world of different angles and fascinating little-known facts that bring fresh life to the story of what Britain has been and what Britain is.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2014

Reviews

[Julie Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointed with this book. I thought it was written in a very patronising style (lots of people know .... but not many people know) and poorly edited, missing some repeating phrases too close together (use of "take for granted" three times in one paragraph but not deliberately). I didn't like the way the authors made too much use of extended sentences - eg. "... times were bad. In fact they were very bad."
As to the content, I'm thinking now what I can remember from the book and the two facts that have stuck in my mind are that there was an English pope called Adrian and that women's football was quite popular until the FA banned it in 1921. Some of the chapters I skimmed through as I found the topic dull.
At the end the authors say that they hope we liked reading it and that we read more if they write them in the series but I won't be reading any more.

[Infinidimincorp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. Great idea. I quite agree that so much of our history is under explored. But a dull and patronising writing style that often rambled in circles without getting to the crunch of what was actually going on. Two or three good sections. Toilet reading if you live in a house where you don't want anyone hogging the loo.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was OK... not great but really simply, OK...

[Katja Viebahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were really interesting and cute but there were so many typos!