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The Last 100 Years (give or take) and All That
A fascinating and hilarious gallop through twentieth-century British history, by comedian Al Murray.
An awful lot has happened in the last 100 years or so. In fact, when you look at how much went on in the 20th century, it's amazing it didn't take longer than that.
And what have we learnt? A few obvious lessons include: megalomaniac men with moustaches in charge of countries tend to turn out to be BAD; anyone who thinks they can explain let alone sort out the Middle East is WRONG; France simply cannot be relied upon; America may or may not be the cause of everything GOOD and BAD in the world (depending on who you ask).
This isn't your bog-standard history book. We all know that history books (Which Shall Not be Questioned because they ARE ALL TRUE according to our History Teachers of Yore) are dry and dull, and they go on as if there's only ONE version of history (spoiler: it's all about perspective). Enter Al Murray, alter-ego of everyone's favourite Pub Landlord.
Al knows his way around 20th century Britain, and he's good enough to illuminate it for you. From the Big Bang of the 20th Century, DOUBLEYOUDOUBLEYOU ONE, to the eve of the new Millennium (when all the computers in the World DIDN'T stop working and the Queen had to do the Hokey Cokey with Tony Blair) and all the forgotten tales in between, this is a brilliantly funny, irreverent and eye-opening whistle-stop tour of Britain since 1914.
An awful lot has happened in the last 100 years or so. In fact, when you look at how much went on in the 20th century, it's amazing it didn't take longer than that.
And what have we learnt? A few obvious lessons include: megalomaniac men with moustaches in charge of countries tend to turn out to be BAD; anyone who thinks they can explain let alone sort out the Middle East is WRONG; France simply cannot be relied upon; America may or may not be the cause of everything GOOD and BAD in the world (depending on who you ask).
This isn't your bog-standard history book. We all know that history books (Which Shall Not be Questioned because they ARE ALL TRUE according to our History Teachers of Yore) are dry and dull, and they go on as if there's only ONE version of history (spoiler: it's all about perspective). Enter Al Murray, alter-ego of everyone's favourite Pub Landlord.
Al knows his way around 20th century Britain, and he's good enough to illuminate it for you. From the Big Bang of the 20th Century, DOUBLEYOUDOUBLEYOU ONE, to the eve of the new Millennium (when all the computers in the World DIDN'T stop working and the Queen had to do the Hokey Cokey with Tony Blair) and all the forgotten tales in between, this is a brilliantly funny, irreverent and eye-opening whistle-stop tour of Britain since 1914.
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2020
18 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Al Murray
45 books46 followersAlastair James Hay "Al" Murray is an English comedian and TV personality well known for his stand-up persona and quick repartee.
His best-known character is "The Pub Landlord", a mock-xenophobic but stereotypical publican.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Murray
His best-known character is "The Pub Landlord", a mock-xenophobic but stereotypical publican.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Murray
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 7, 2025
CAWPILE 7.00
4 STARS
Picked this up from the library on a whim.
I really enjoyed this- not just because it was funny but because Al Murray tells you throughout- dates are not important, pay attention to cause and effect.
It makes serious events more approachable and easier to understand.
I would like to pick up one of Al Murray's more serious works as he is a very intelligent man.
4 STARS
Picked this up from the library on a whim.
I really enjoyed this- not just because it was funny but because Al Murray tells you throughout- dates are not important, pay attention to cause and effect.
It makes serious events more approachable and easier to understand.
I would like to pick up one of Al Murray's more serious works as he is a very intelligent man.
October 8, 2021
Very funny account of recent history from The Pub Landlord.
Covering all topics and not just British history.
Great stocking filler. I bought it for my gran!
Covering all topics and not just British history.
Great stocking filler. I bought it for my gran!
May 23, 2021
Entertaining, educational, well laid out, but way too brief / rushed.
July 9, 2021
Good. Solid grasp of history but felt a bit rushed in places and some of the jokes worked better than others but very accessible
October 23, 2024
Not a book for adults.
This is a good book to interest teenagers in history, through its humour and pithyness, though "hilarious" is a gross overstatement. But it's not great if you know anything about the events it describes as he mostly recaps well known facts.
Additionally, and I only read 15% of the book, he misses out on quite a few points which make the story of the Great War more interesting: Arch Duke Ferdinand spent time restraining his cousin Kaiser Wilhelm from attacking Serbia before his death, All of the Allied countries embargoed reporting of the so called Spanish Flu, but neutral Spain didn't which meant reports reaching allied countries came from Spain....., the flu originated in the US and was brought to Europe bu the Doughboys. I stopped noticing after that.
This is a good book to interest teenagers in history, through its humour and pithyness, though "hilarious" is a gross overstatement. But it's not great if you know anything about the events it describes as he mostly recaps well known facts.
Additionally, and I only read 15% of the book, he misses out on quite a few points which make the story of the Great War more interesting: Arch Duke Ferdinand spent time restraining his cousin Kaiser Wilhelm from attacking Serbia before his death, All of the Allied countries embargoed reporting of the so called Spanish Flu, but neutral Spain didn't which meant reports reaching allied countries came from Spain....., the flu originated in the US and was brought to Europe bu the Doughboys. I stopped noticing after that.
January 9, 2021
Properly interesting and entertaining read. This covered a hugely broad and varied number of events in a level of detail that gives an idea of what happened with interesting facts and meanwhiles. Although a number of tangents are mentioned briefly or skipped over, they add to the overall sense of complexity in many historical events which are often simplified. At no point did it feel like it went into too much detail or felt like you had to work through a section.
The tone is generally light hearted and the book is very easy to read. I’d definitely recommend this to a friend.
The tone is generally light hearted and the book is very easy to read. I’d definitely recommend this to a friend.
June 27, 2021
Depending on who you ask, you can discover the Causes and Effects of History: Imperialism! Glossing over the tough bits, which will prompt readers into explorations of them, Al gives a fine guide to WW1 and WW2 in a Eurocentric history with gags. A wise use of the lockdown from the National Treasure.
January 4, 2022
A fun, wittu crash course in the 20th century, done in a way only Al Murray can.
Not too long, not too short, not too serious but without being crass.
Al addresses the important and well known stuff, at the same time as pointing out forgotten stuff.
A laugh for those who like, and those who know nothing about history.
Not too long, not too short, not too serious but without being crass.
Al addresses the important and well known stuff, at the same time as pointing out forgotten stuff.
A laugh for those who like, and those who know nothing about history.
September 17, 2022
A brief resume of history that kicks off with the First World War done in the style of little Englander pub landlord Al Murray. This would work better as a stage performance that would include off the cuff humour from the main man in response to his audience. Mildly amusing overall.
March 3, 2024
Funny take on a weird century
So makes light of so many deep events, but in a practical way; enabling understanding in light of current world events and how so many are related or replaying. History lessons for the future as ever.
So makes light of so many deep events, but in a practical way; enabling understanding in light of current world events and how so many are related or replaying. History lessons for the future as ever.
July 23, 2024
Al’s a clever chap and a funny guy and I totally get what he was trying to achieve with this book. I felt it fell short on occasions and some bits of recent history seemed to be made light of slightly too much. Still an enjoyable read on our crazy history!
February 10, 2025
Book that delivers exactly on what it proposes to be. A good overview which also doesn’t take itself too serious. I live history books as much as the next guy at the library but sometimes commitment exceeds my energy levels, but this was easy, fun and light.
April 15, 2021
A decent overview of how events of the 20th century fit together. Could use more detail, but perhaps useful as a stepping off point if there are points where you might want to dig deeper
April 29, 2022
Good fun, whistle stop tour through the 20 century
December 3, 2022
Very funny with Al's clever wit and humour.
December 20, 2022
Not as funny or as incisive as expected
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2024
Pretty funny
November 16, 2025
Highly entertaining and concisely informative, particularly to this ignorant scholar whose history syllabus seemed to consist of the Gunpowder Plot, World War Two and nothing in between 🤷♂️
August 26, 2021
A swift race through history in Mr Murrays inimitable style, if you like his humour you'll enjoy this. Even if you are not familiar with him it's still a fun, light dip into the events of the last century.
Worth a look.
Worth a look.
February 14, 2024
I do like Al Murray, and I very much enjoyed his two recent series, Why Does Everyone Hate The English? and Why Do The Brits Win Every War?. Although they were hilarious, these were both fascinating series and hugely informative.
Which is why, therefore, it pains me to have to say that towards the end of this book, I was finding it a bloody hard slog. I had to keep updating my progress just to encourage myself to keep going.
Reading that it was meant to be a kind of modern homage to the classic 1066 And All That by WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman, I was looking forward to reading The Last 100 Years...And All That: but oh, what a disappointment! For one thing, Al's humour is too heavy-handed - and for another, it's simply not funny. Comedian Matt Forde is quoted on the cover as saying, "I squealed laughing at this", but god knows why *anyone* would respond in that way.
Another celebrity tome that was written during lockdown, and it certainly felt like it: even Murray seems to have lost interest at certain points. I also wondered if he had a word count that he couldn't quite fill, which might partly explain why the 3 pages on Hitler consist of a one-page cartoon illustration and 2 pages where 99% of the text is the word 'Hitler' repeated over and over again. The same goes for footnotes about Churchill, and in both cases, the 'joke' doesn't take long to outstay its welcome. Another example is any mention of Tony Blair having the footnote 'IRAQ!'. In fact, the repetitive nature of the footnote contents as a whole meant I stopped reading them altogether in the later chapters.
Another major issue for me is that not only is this book disappointing, but its humour is often inappropriate, given some of the incidents featured. If the writing had been sufficiently funny, Murray might've got away with it: but it isn't, and he doesn't.
And yet paradoxically, the reason why this book merits 3 stars and not 2 or lower is that when Murray isn't trying to be jokey and just gets on with the history aspects, I found him to be an *excellent* communicator. He distils complicated situations into clear, easy to grasp points, his delivery of information is punchy and insightful, and I learnt a lot from it.
Maybe, if the book had acted as the companion to a TV series, it might've worked better: what feels clunky on the page might have felt far less so when delivered on screen. I can't help thinking that if a lot of the 'humour' had been toned down or removed altogether, this would've been a cracking little primer on modern history.
Which is why, therefore, it pains me to have to say that towards the end of this book, I was finding it a bloody hard slog. I had to keep updating my progress just to encourage myself to keep going.
Reading that it was meant to be a kind of modern homage to the classic 1066 And All That by WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman, I was looking forward to reading The Last 100 Years...And All That: but oh, what a disappointment! For one thing, Al's humour is too heavy-handed - and for another, it's simply not funny. Comedian Matt Forde is quoted on the cover as saying, "I squealed laughing at this", but god knows why *anyone* would respond in that way.
Another celebrity tome that was written during lockdown, and it certainly felt like it: even Murray seems to have lost interest at certain points. I also wondered if he had a word count that he couldn't quite fill, which might partly explain why the 3 pages on Hitler consist of a one-page cartoon illustration and 2 pages where 99% of the text is the word 'Hitler' repeated over and over again. The same goes for footnotes about Churchill, and in both cases, the 'joke' doesn't take long to outstay its welcome. Another example is any mention of Tony Blair having the footnote 'IRAQ!'. In fact, the repetitive nature of the footnote contents as a whole meant I stopped reading them altogether in the later chapters.
Another major issue for me is that not only is this book disappointing, but its humour is often inappropriate, given some of the incidents featured. If the writing had been sufficiently funny, Murray might've got away with it: but it isn't, and he doesn't.
And yet paradoxically, the reason why this book merits 3 stars and not 2 or lower is that when Murray isn't trying to be jokey and just gets on with the history aspects, I found him to be an *excellent* communicator. He distils complicated situations into clear, easy to grasp points, his delivery of information is punchy and insightful, and I learnt a lot from it.
Maybe, if the book had acted as the companion to a TV series, it might've worked better: what feels clunky on the page might have felt far less so when delivered on screen. I can't help thinking that if a lot of the 'humour' had been toned down or removed altogether, this would've been a cracking little primer on modern history.
June 8, 2022
Absolutely amazing read. It was informative and hilarious at the same time and I learnt about events I never even knew existed. I'm planning to take A-level history next year -which mainly focuses on the 20th century- and I believe this book will give me a great head start in September. Though I would not directly quote Murray (he admits himself that this book is rather biased!) it is incredibly interesting and perfect for anyone who has a particular interest in the 20th century. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud!
October 9, 2021
Great read
I bought this book because i like Al Murray's style of comedy .
Altho I'm not a fan of history or of the war l found this book to be engaging and it helped to put it into perspective ,Goodread if You just want the highlights told in an easy manner to understand will certainly read more from Mr Murray .
I bought this book because i like Al Murray's style of comedy .
Altho I'm not a fan of history or of the war l found this book to be engaging and it helped to put it into perspective ,Goodread if You just want the highlights told in an easy manner to understand will certainly read more from Mr Murray .
Read
January 20, 2021Very, very, very funny!
January 3, 2022
This whistle-stop tour of the 20th century has no business being as good/funny/well-researched as it is.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews