Dark Knights & Dingy Castles

Horrible Histories Specials #5

by Terry Deary

Dark Knights and Dingy Castles

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Humor, Historical, Middle Grade, British Literature

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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

[Athena (OneReadingNurse) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahah I love these books, I bought this for my niece and read through it to make sure there wasn't anything age inappropriate for an 11 year old.

I love the many facts given, presented with jokes to ease up the tougher things but not necessarily dumbed down for the age level.

The illustrations are hilarious too, the most inappropriate thing I saw was a guy peeing through a castle merlon. Anyway, totally recommend these for the age level and anyone that wants to read some fun horrible history 🤣

[Ehsan'Shokraie' · Rating 3 out of 5]

شگفت که هر آنچه روزی دست نیافتنی و شکست ناپذیر می آید،چندصباحی بعد در برابر زمان و پیشرفت ها شکست می خورد و به فراموشی سپرده می شود،تنها شاید داستانی از آنچه چندین قرن حقیقت اصلی زندگی میلیون ها نفر بود باقی می ماند.

[SuzannevHaaften · Rating 3 out of 5]

Altijd leuk van Waanzinnig om te Weten, afwisselende schrijfvormen en leuke weetjes.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always well written, interesting books for children to learn about history in a fun and amusing way.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a big fan of the Horrible Histories books back when I was a kid, and so when I won a job lot bundle of them on eBay for a bargain price because of a misspelling in the title, I was delighted to find a few books in there that I hadn’t come across.

It’s made even better by the fact that they were all about half again as long as a regular Horrible Histories book, which meant there was more for me to geek out on, and that this one in particular focusses on medieval history, which is probably my favourite period, all things considered.

This one is worth reading whether you’re a kid or an adult, and especially so if you’re into medieval stuff and castles. The sense of humour is occasionally juvenile, but the information itself is solid gold. It’s arguably now one of my favourites of his!

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed this from my history loving 10 yo daughter and loved it! I sort of remember these books from being in my later years of school and wish they were around earlier.
Really good material for younger children interested in history and highly entertaining for big kids like me too!

[Stasiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
No kozak książunia

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

12NP

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. In the usual equation of humor + violence + gore + good drawing = good book, this Horrible History focuses on the era of Knights. It has reports on battles and what gave who the upper hand. This book also contains information about ancient tournaments, such as jousting and melées and then teaches you techniques for winning them.
As usual, what Horrible History book would be complete without a timeline showing you the most well-known events of the time of Knights. Some of the most famous events include William the Conqueror and his friends making castles in England, and when they switched from chain-mail to complete iron plating.

If you've read any other books in the series you'll know these aren't exactly happy-happy-flower books but they're still very entertaining.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing I learned in this book is that when William the Bastard of Normandy came and invaded England in 1066, he brought a pre-fab castle with him. Who knew? I didn't realize that pre fab was around that long!

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oke kinders luister, als je iemand in je leven hebt die jonger is en dol is op geschiedenis dan is er geen enkele serie die ik meer aanraad dan deze serie. Ze zijn geweldig. Ze zijn hilarisch en vol met echte feiten. Boeken voor kinderen worden zo vaak 'verdomd', doen alsof kinderen eigenlijk niets snappen en dat werkt averecht kan ik je zeggen. Dit is een geweldige serie om kinderen geïnteresseerd te krijgen in geschiedenis! :)

[The enchanted bibliotaph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enjoying the facts in this book till I reached the part where it states that Anne Comnene was Turkish. Gosh! How is it possible that someone who writes about history made such a mistake? She was a Byzantine princess and most certainly not of Turkish origin. Well, after that I didn’t really bother with the rest of the info in the book since it can be false as well.

[Tom M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and informative way to present history to young readers. Why this series hasn't made its way over to the US is beyond me.

So much fun I'll gladly read any others in the long, long series I can find.

[Mojtaba Nikzad · Rating 5 out of 5]

اگر کشته‌مرده‌ی شوالیه‌ها هستید،حتما این کتاب را در کتابخانه‌ی خودتان قرار دهید.
کتابی درباره ی اشباح دژها و پر از طنز.
قرار نیست که در این کتاب دروغ‌های کتاب درسی را که در مدرسه خوانده‌اید را بخوانید.

[Morgan the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun way to learn about the history of knights. Targeted at middle to upper primary. There’s a lot of information and a lot of small text on a page. Littered with graphics or illustrations they help portray the story of knights.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

trigger warning
gore, slavery, torture

Last warning not even implied but colourful descriptions of various techniques.
No review, just warnings.

[Shairie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful!

[Vana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was very interesting and nice since they showed a lot of information in a funny way .

[Brambram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grappig maar ook een beetje griezelig.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book

[Xanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive for a nonfiction book aimed at children . It’s also entertaining without dumbing things down for the younger audience. The illustrations are many and well suited to the text.

[Diana Bustamante · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly and fun as it should be!

[Guy Sandison · Rating 4 out of 5]

My seven year old loved learning about sieges and gruesome elements of castles.

Some of the information os repeated from other books in the series, but he didn’t seem to mind when he noticed.

[Katelyn Mather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've ever read

[Amanda Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comedic look at the lives of English and French royals and life in castles, battles and more

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much favourite one, a lot less fun and whimsy than expected and more waffle and boring. Also too many very long quiz questions

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.25

[Daniel Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read like all Horrible Histories - funny, interesting and just enough to get you wanting to learn more. These books got me into history as a child and they hold up now.

[Katrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very quick read and a insanely evil one, haha! black british humor at its best. many squeals and bursts of laughter. this book entertains highly, although sadly for a too little time :P I could have read much more of this hilarious stuff. and it's not even nonsense! while wiping off tears of laughter we also learn a lot about history and its quirky facts. terribly awesome book :D

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated books published in the UK by Scholastic. They are designed to get children interested in history by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. They are exceptionally well loved by my history loving children