Customer Reviews

A Rhyming History of Britain: 55 B.C.-A.D. 1966

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Interested in English history or not the hugely witty use of the English Language to describe 2000 years of history in 200 pages of rhyming couplets is a magnificent achievement. Succinct, unpatriotic even accurate, the wicked sense of humour gets straight to the point of the most serious events. Well I lied a bit , a little knowledge of English history does help the humour along.

This delightful little book is a gem! With whimsical verse, the author takes jabs at almost every major event in British history (and more than a few minor ones). If you have a basic knowledge of England's past, you'll get many of the in-jokes so thoroughly woven into the book.

Sorry about the title. I don't have his touch for couplets. Here are two of my favorite bits: "The arrow in the eye could be / unwarranted embroidery" (regarding Harold's death, as depicted in the Bayeaux Tapestry), "Victoria liked Disraeli best / He, shrewdly, saw she was Empressed" (made Empress of India). There's lots more. This book tickles like champagne while giving a pretty solid history lesson at the same time. I can't wait to read more from Mr. Muirden!

I must admit, I am not a scholar of any kind of British history. But, whenever I am between books or embarking on a two-hour plane ride, ARHoB is almost always the book that I choose to re-read. Each time that I have read Muirden's poetry, I find myself laughing at different parts, looking up various events and issues on Wikipedia, and learning something new. I would think that a 9th grade World History/Western Civ. course or even a middle-school poetry class could use the text. Fun stuff here!