Horrible Histories Wales

Horrible Histories Specials #13

by Terry Deary

Terry Deary turns his attention to Wales and delves into the dreadful deeds that make its history so horrible. He includes terrifying tales of Norman invaders, Viking sea-raiders plus deadly dragons and battling bards.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Comedy, Historical, Humor

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2008

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

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Horrible Histories! This one is no exception!

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I found this lurking in a box in school as I hadn't seen it before, even though I am more than familiar with the HH series. Having had to wade my way through Hanes Cymru throughout school and especially at A level, I have to admit to finding much of Welsh history turgid once we past the Tudors. However, this, as with all of the HH books certainly brings it to life in a lot of nicely gruesome detail and, in spite of having a lifelong passion for history, and being very familiar with a lot of Welsh mythology (and Hanes Cymru in my Hanes Lefel A of course), there was much for me to discover.
Told as usual with Deary's irreverence, there are some poignant nuggets such as the realisation that the Mandan tribe didn't appear to have Welsh connections and a two year exhibition was apparently a complete and utter waste of time.
Plus, Robert of Rhuddlan, who built good old Twt/Bonc Hill in 1073, gets a section all to himself, a bonus for someone who went to school in its shadow. However, according to Deary, poor old Robert met a sticky end which again was something new. Great stuff.

[Agent_bugs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant :) As interesting and humorous as ever!

[Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and horribly gruesome. A fun series.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wales is one of my favourite places AND horrible histories is also a much beloved and favoured book series so to combine the two was a sure winner.

I’ve always enjoyed reading these books since I was little and they have an effortless way of bringing history to the reader and making it exciting, fun and ‘horrible’. They retain all of the gory bits and accurate parts of history without glossing over any of the hung, drawn and quartering. They’re great for all and any reader (made for children, enjoyed by adults) so I’ll always have a good word to say about these books.

I came across this one in a cafe in Wales and it was the most perfect buy and read whilst on holiday. Great illustrations, great spread of history from Saxons, Normans, Tudors to the modern day and a great read all in all.

[Bethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very very very brief tour of Welsh history. As a Cymraes and an avid reader of Welsh history, I'm not entirely sure of its accuracy. When I reached a part that mentioned some local history to me, I felt a surge of protectiveness at the lack of nuance (even with the leniency of being a children's history).

I'm not sure I'll be stocking this in my classroom, at least, not without a caveat.

But as a place to start, it's a somewhat solid base.

[Sarahjoy Maddeaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty entertaining, with some interesting, little-known facts about Wales' long history. The last two hundred years were dealt with pretty swiftly, though. A little word of warning: it is quite horribly gruesome in parts, so might not be suitable for young children.

[Mohammad Islam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not funny enough. Managed to read 100 pages before deciding to abandon it.

[Nickolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to know that my ancestors were such horrible, murderous, thieving people. Way to go. I wish the book didn't skip over the war of the roses though.

[Mabon Finch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic! A great humorous break from the usual history books I read. I loved everything about this book.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to confess, I knew nothing about Wales. I don’t know why, maybe because usually history books talk more about England than they do about the other parts of the UK, but I really learned a lot from this book, but I felt it did lack quite a bit.
I am speaking as an experienced Horrible Histories reader, even though this book was a bit bigger than most Horrible Histories, this one felt as if it really cut some corners, I would have loved if this book was just a tad longer!

Having said that, I did really enjoy this book and I learned a lot from it, especially that the Welsh people were treated horribly by the English but they persevered! I guess, for a beginning in the history of Wales it’s a great book, and especially for children its a great book. I think I’m just looking at it way too much from an adult’s perspective, and not as much as the intended target: children.

I still recommend reading this book, any book that can teach me lots is a book worth reading!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing on my thread of re-reading books from when I was younger, comes this one from the Horrible Histories collection all about my home country!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

While I know quite a lot about Welsh history, there were a few stories in here that I didn’t know anything about at all. Plus it was quite strange to see some of the stories that I grew up knowing being presented as fiction when we were taught them as myths from our past.

All in all, as with the other HH books that I’ve read, this would be a great springboard to continue on a deep dive into a topic and time in history of your choosing and they are a fun way to get kids interested in history if they have struggled with it previously.

[Vcmc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very breathless gallop through Welsh history - it really does focus on the gory bits. Useful as a quick first look at Welsh history but doesn't replace the need to do proper research on how/why Wales has arrived where it is.

[Kitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

ah, nagu need Horrible Histories raamatud ikka - ajalugu räägitakse enamvähem ära ja siis lisatakse mingeid võikavõitu lugusid sellest, kuidas täpselt keegi kellegi ära tappis. minu jaoks see ajalugu huvitavamaks, arusaadavamaks või meeldejäävamaks ei tee, aga eks igaühele oma.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was pretty entertaining, with some interesting, little-known facts about Wales' long history. The last two hundred years were dealt with pretty swiftly, though. A little word of warning: it is quite horribly gruesome in parts, so might not be suitable for younger children.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot about dying, a lot of pictures, they were pretty funny.

[Steph Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read learning some of the dark history of Wales. Just a shame it didn't go beyond the 1800s.

[znchaudz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrible histories never misses

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

CYMRU AM BYTH 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Wales so this was the perfect book for me.

[Sam Gaylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

#BoutOfBooks15.0
#TBRTakedown3.0
Challenge: read a book that is out of your comfort zone (non-fiction)

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Childhood nostalgia for Horrible Histories, a £3 bargain deal, and Wales. That's what lead to this purchase. As always, a pleasing read.

[Amy Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Horrible histories does it again!