This book has a lot of information and funny jokes. This was a fun way to read about the Greek legends. It is a good start for kids to get interested in books and history. I think it is a fun way to learn.

this book was very interesting i actually enjoyed reading it! it was the most interesting book i ever read and i also found out some stuff 2.

I am really in the debt of Terry Deary. If it weren't for him and his wonderful "Horrible History" series, I would never have been introduced to history. I first read his work when I was only ten. Seven years later, I'm still enjoying his work. Yes, childish, but it is so much fun. I now want to teach, to make history fun to others. I wouldn't have known it possible if it weren't for Deary. Right next to my "Measly Middle Ages" and my "Woeful Second World War" is my John Keegen and William Manchester.

Onto "Measly Middle Ages". I really enjoy this book. Both irreverent and insightful at the same time, this book really shows the reader how horrible the middle ages actually were. I've read several works on the era, and this book nicely fills in the basic details, with out bogging it down with the details that us history dorks love. A great book for kids, a great book for people who both enjoy history and enjoy having fun.

"The Measly Middle Ages" is a really funny book! I can hardly believe it's true, after reading all those "boring history books!" Anywayz, I'll have to try and read the rest of the "Horrible Histories" series. Just can't wait!

This great, enchanting, and captivating series attracted me since i was a child. Not only is this an educating experience, this also provides information in a very enjoyable way. Attractive to the most intelligent minds, and interesting to every child, this makes a great gift and also a great reader.
It will make you smile and even laugh out loud as you read book after book. My only question is, why would they ever stop priting? I ask Scholastic to continue print so all who desire a book can recieve one. Thank you.

The contents of this book are filled with interesting and juicy tidbits of information you will never find in a textbook! With hilarious pictures, The Rotten Romans reveals the wackier side of ancient Roman life. The book stays with real facts. Some were so unbelievable that I had to verify them in the encyclopedia (they were true!) It's the best book to put your history teacher on the spot. So you might think, "How could history be interesting?" Well, this book comes the closest in making it so!

The Rotten Romans is a really good book if you're learning about ancient Rome, or anytime you need a good book. It makes jokes ("Dad's mad, Blad") and gives interesting information you don't find anywhere else (Did you know the Celts admired their hair so much that they didn't wear helmets in battle?). It tells stories and has made-up diaries of a warrior. It is a really funny book, and if you liked it, there are lots and lots of other Horrible Histories. There's the Awesome Egyptians, Measly Middle Ages, Vicious Vikings, and Groovy Greeks. There are also Vile Victorians, Angry Aztecs, Terrible Tudors, and Blitzed Brits (not available online). Hope you enjoy this book!

I have read nearly all of the books in the Horrible Histories Series and I love them! The reader is drawn into the world of the Romans and is given truthful information on all of the wars and emperors in a calm, relaxed, even humorous fasion. Nobody likes learning lists of dated and rulers. The Horrible Histories books are nothing like that. They really draw you into their world and you feel as if you are going back in time to the streets of Rome under Caligula's rule and feel like a Roman. This is a great way to learn history in a relaxing environment. It's a great way to escape your troublesome world and enter the world of the Rotten Roman's! I recommend it to anyone!

The good thing about this book is that the author appears to have read a good deal of the relevant literature and provides a lot more in depth historical information than one expects in a history book for children.

The bad thing is that he takes real incidents from the primary sources (in particular the Icelandic sagas), substantially alters them (by, for example, replacing the central character in the original version with someone else, or falsely describing the context), then reports them as "Viking stories." A few examples:

He tells the story of Egil's encounter with Erik Bloodaxe at York (from Egilsaga). Among the errors:

He describes Erik as having successfully defeated his brothers in the competition for the Kingdom. In fact, Erik was in York because his brothers had driven him out of Norway.

He describes Egil as Erik's one rival. In fact, Erik is the son of a king, and Egil is an Icelandic farmer (and poet and famous warrior). The basis of their conflict is not rivalry for the crown, which Erik doesn't have and Egil has no conceivable interest in, but a family feud between their families (Egil being the third generation of the feud on one side, Erik the second on the other). Finally, the book's account leaves out one of the central figures of the incident--Arinbjorn, who is both one of Egil's closest friends and one of Erik's chief retainers, and who plays a crucial role in the real story.

The book gives an equally butchered version of the famous execution scene from Jomviking saga. Almost every fact is wrong. It starts by describing the captives as the 70 survivors of the battle--in fact they are the crew of the one ship from the losing side that didn't turn and run. It continues by omitting two of the three central figures of the story--Buni, the commander of the ship, and the young Jarl, Hakon's son. It then gives Erik, a minor figure in the original, Buni's role from the original.

In addition, it omits the explanation of the execution involving the dropped knife, which is a fascinating example of scientific thinking in a pre-modern society--a deliberate experiment to determine whether human consciousness is located in the head or the body. It omits the whole business about who the Jomvikings are, why they are expected to be brave, etc.

In both of these cases, the author has taken a passage from one of the world's great literatures, the sagas, and mutilated it almost, although not quite, beyond recognition.

For a final example, the author asserts that a Norse woman divorced her husband for showing too much of his bare chest. In fact, the reason she wanted to divorce him had nothing to do with that--the anecdote concerns not a cause but a pretext. In order to be able to divorce her husband, she made him a shirt with a low neck, tricked him into wearing it, then divorced him on the grounds that he was wearing feminine clothing.

In this case and others, the real account is a better story, as well as a more accurate portrayal of Norse culture, than the author's revised version.

Compared to the norm of children's books, this has a good deal to recommend it, but compared to what it ought to have been--a truthful description of a fascinating society--it is a serious disappointment.

I am a big fan of this series and own tons of them. I am a history buff and also love comics and this book has both. If you are looking for a book that is easy to read but is also very fun to read, buy a horrible history. Terry Deary makes a bunch of facts about vikings into a very fun book. The comics are really funny and have great bits of puns and sarcasm. These books are designed to make history fun for people who don't like history. If I hadn't loved history before I picked up one of these books, I sure would love it now.

This seires of books are the best history books I've ever read. I am 12 years old and I still use these books to suprise my teachers(Did you know pyramids contained toilets). I read these books over and over again. These books are the best you can buy for all ages, American or English.

Shakespheres Stories was a good book. The book told you about the 3 diffrent typs of writtings he did. It tells you little interesting facts and tidbits about him and the history and actors of his plays. The book wraps up his plays in diffrent point of views you understand for example:Hamlet is explained through an officer writting a police report.

Not only does this book count down the top ten Shakespeare stories, but between each chapter there are the top ten lists like " Top Ten Shakepearian Actors" . My favorite one was a list of all the people that might have written the plays instead of Shakespeare. You should know that the book doesn't have the real plays, just the summeries and facts. The only problem I had was that there wasn't much detail- Like in Hamlet, it was just one of the characters saying how everyone died, and not a lot of detil of what else happened. But it was still a good book, and you'll really like it if you read Horrible histories.

This book was very good. It gave life to Shakespeare. While I appreaciate the beauty of his words, sometimes Shakespeare is a little......stuffy. But not in this book! It tells Shakespeare in a language I can understand. Even my 7-year-old brother was reading it!!! This is definatly a good book for anyone to enjoy.
- MKL

As a book for four to eight year olds, I give it a three. As an adult, I give it five stars for an average rating of four. If you`ve never been to Harlem, or even New York, never met an American of African descent, if you`re too young to have heard of the likes of the Cotton Club, the Apollo, people like Sugar Ray, Langston Hughes, Lady Day, or even Malcolm X, your mama has a heck of alot of explaining to do: too much for the brief span of attention only just long enough to look at the pictures and feel the music of the poem. In terms of just words, I suppose this fits in the 4-8 reading level. However, as a work, this is more likely to be understood and therefore appreciated by older people. My kids, five, and seven, were completely mystified by the poem, although they loved the beautiful compositions that make you wish you could touch them. Having lived in Washington Heights, I can explain some basic things to them, but not enough. The ability to understand and appreciate this book is beyond their capacity at this time.

Walter Dean Myers is certainly better-known for his chapter books for children than for poetry. That being said, "Harlem" offers an insight into the place as well as the man. African-American culture has long had a close relationship with poetry and Myers cements that friendship. Kudos for a job well-done!

For teachers, this is a must-read during African-American History Month in February (as well as any other time of the year).

I thought this book was great! It's a book that anyone can read. This book not only has beautiful pictures, but seems to teach you a little about Harlem. I think this book should be read by all ages, because it is FANTASTIC!!!!

I bought this book for my son who is an avid reader of anything Egyptian and he devoured it happily. He found the interesting facts hard to resist and shared them with all of us. As a professional historian, I usually eschew things like this but I found it engaging when I read it. This is the type of book that homeshcooling parents love because it encourages a reluctant reader to learn and it cements the learning of one who is motivated. I highly recommend it.

This is an awsome, truly wonderful book for any parent trying to motivate their children to read and enjoy history. terry Deary manages to present historically accurate information in a way that makes reading and learning extremely enjoyable. His use of kooky, strange or disgusting (but true) facts captivate children's minds and imagination, leading them into reading and absorbing other more important facts, as well as broadening their minds and teaching them about different ancient cultures! This book is one of a series that every parent should buy their child.

This book, as well as all other books in the Horrible Histories series, are excellent books for children that are interested in learning about Ancient cultures. The book features several comics, pictures, and activities that refer the the life of Egyptians. For example, it contains recipes for Egyptian bread as well as games that Egyptian children played. The book makes learning fun and easy, and I highly recommend it for any child's reference shelf or for history teachers.

i usually hate reading, but this book was tight. Its about how people eat eachother and stuff. Read it

This is a story about a sailor named George, he spots a ship coming towards them. It was coming in to fast, then it disappeared. The ship is a ghost ship but why,why does the ship wander the seas, never stopping.

good!I recomend this book to anyone in between the ages of 8 and 1400 because it is quite scary and relly funny . Also anyone who knows lucy kelsall ( she lives in the isle of man , united kingdom ,europe ) you prabably don't know her because she is a twirp ! from one of her friends, Victoria !