Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans - Terry Deary

There are a few authors which take me back to my childhood. Alongside Jacqueline Wilson, Nick Inkpen and Roger Hargrieves, theres Terry Deary. He writes a series of childrens books called Horrible Histories, and one of these is The Ruthless Romans. Cover: You should never judge a book by its cover, but I must admit, I do do it! The cover of this particular book. There is a lion threatening a Roman in the Colliseum, and the Roman fighter looks terrified! It is quite colourful with deep shades of red leaping out, making it seem quite terrifying and interesting. Plot: The book, naturally, is all about the Romans and how they lived their ...  Read the complete review

The “Horrible Histories” range of books is designed to get kids interested in history by… well, by telling them all the horrible bits as well. The intro to this particular books, “The Ruthless Romans”, actually starts out by telling us how teachers always go on about how wonderful the Romans were, and conveniently ignoring the more atrocious side of the Romans. Actually from what I remember of history lessons, there’s an element of truth in that. This book then focuses not on the “what the Romans did for us” philosophy, but on what made the Roman Empire so devastatingly powerful – their ruthlessness – and also the “entertainment” they enjoyed. So basically what we have ...  Read the complete review