An Utterly Impartial History of Britain or 2000 Years of Upper-class Idiots in Charge - John O'Farrell

An Utterly Impartial History of Britain Learning things is fun. Well, that's what I tell my daughter now that she's started school anyway. But it is true, increasing the sum of your knowledge is enriching and empowering and for this reason I like to mix up some educational non fiction on my daily commute amongst the normal run of pot boilers and pulp fiction. Now, as much as I like to learn things I don't really want to have to think too hard if I can help it so most of these books need to be pitched at the right level. That might mean that they are aimed at a populist audience but as often as not it means they are written with an eye to the humour as ...  Read the complete review

John O'Farrell is an author, broadcaster and comedy script writer who made his name a few years ago with his debut book 'Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter' (1998) and 'The Best a Man Can Get (2000)'. His writing and humour has always been from a slightly left wing perspective but even though he was a member of the Labour party he has always been critical of the government on many issues such as the invasion of Iraq. His humour can be best described a clever satire, the kind of thing you would expect to find on shows like 'Have I Got News For You' and indeed he has been a guest there many times. In 'An ...  Read the complete review

This is my first book review, as I have been somewhat reluctant to attempt to give a book that I liked a good enough review without giving away the plot! But I suppose with this non-fiction book, that should be easy enough to do as everyone will know what is in the book- although according to John O'Farrell, the author of An Utterly Impartial History of Britain or 2000 years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge, people will not know the stories in the book, as at school it waas always very boring! Well, the content is certainly not boring! Britain has had what can only be described as a colourful history and O'Farrell's easy to read writing stlye helps in making ...  Read the complete review

The monumental task of condensing the entirity of British civilised history into one entirely readable and humourous volume must have seemed like a daunting task to John o' Farrel when he set about writing his 'Utterly Impartial History of Britain. However, not only did he succeed in this task, but he was written what is probably the most accessible account of Britain's history ever written. Sure, purists looking for a deep analysis of history will be disappointed, but o' Farrell combines fact with glorious snippets of humour to boot. Footnotes are helpfully supplied giving more little nuggets of information, and one cannot help smile as you journey with o' Farrel from ...  Read the complete review