Another fascinating title in the fantastically funny history series from the acclaimed Tony Robinson. Hello! Join me and the Curiosity Crew as we gallop headlong through time, pointing out all the most important, funny, strange, amazing, smelly and disgusting bits! It’s history, but not as we know it! Find out everything you ever needed to know about the most brilliant things ever invented, from the truly world-changing: wheel, light-bulb, flushing toilet to the truly bonkers: radio hat, alarm-clock, bed, India-rubber boat cloak, in this fantastic, action-packed, fact-filled book specially written for World Book Day.
Packed full of incident and insight, No Cunning Plan is a funny, self-deprecating and always entertaining memoir by Sir Tony Robinson. Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over fifty years. In this autobiography he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-sized pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder. It wasn't all plain sailing though. Along the way he was bullied by Steve Marriott, failed to impress Liza Minnelli and was pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. He also entertained us with Maid Marion and Her Merry Men (which he wrote and starred in) and coped manfully when locked naked outside a theatre in Lincoln during the live tour of comedy series Who Dares Wins. He presented Time Team for twenty years, watching countless gardens ruthlessly dug up in the name of archaeology, and risked life and limb filming The Worst Jobs in History.
Your paper round will never seem as bad again!The Worst Jobs in History takes you back to the days when being a kid was no excuse for getting out of hard labour. This book tells the stories of all the children whose work fed the nation, kept trains running, and put clothes on everyone's backs, over the last few hundred years of Britain's history. No longer will you have to listen to your parents, grandparents, uncles, neighbours, and random old people in the Co-op telling you how much harder they had it in their day. Next time you find yourself in that situation, ask them if they were a jigger-turner or a turnip-picker in their young day. No? An orderly boy, perhaps? A stepper? Maybe they spent their weekends making matchboxes? Still no? Then they have no idea about the real meaning of hard work. With profiles and testimonies of real kids in rotten jobs, this book will tell you things you probably didn't want to know about the back-breaking, puke-inducing reality of being a child in the past.
Whether it's swilling out the crotch of a knight's soiled armor after the battle of Agincourt, risking his neck in the rigging of HMS Victory, or as "Groom of the Stool" going to places where none of Henry VIII's six wives would venture, Tony endures the worst jobs imaginable to get to the bottom (sometimes literally) of the story. From the Roman invasion to the reign of Queen Victoria, Tony has met the challenge of seeking out the worst jobs of each era. The Gunpowder Plot drew Tony to the role of the Saltpetre Man who collected human waste because its nitrate content could be turned into gunpowder. In the same vein, he has revealed some of the worst jobs behind the building of the great medieval cathedrals. With Tony we discover the dire conditions of Nelson's Victory, where the most common form of retirement was being sewn into a hammock with a couple of cannon balls and dropped over the side. Then there's the impact of the Industrial Revolution, a source of wealth and power for the few, but a cornucopia of lousy jobs for the many. Packed with disgusting yet fascinating professions, this book really gets into the grime of how life was for ordinary people, and provides a vivid alternative (and fairly disgusting) history of Britain.
So you're standing outside the Head Office, waiting to be told off for breaking a classroom window. You've got sweaty palms and a serious sinking feeling in your stomach. All through history, children have been getting of into some serious scrapes. And they did not often get off lightly.
BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.
Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: World War II was the winner of Best Book with Facts in the 2014 Blue Peter Book Awards, voted for by children.In this bind-up Sir Tony Robinson takes you on a headlong gallop through time, pointing out all the most important, funny, strange, amazing, entertaining, smelly and disgusting bits about World War I and World War II. It's history, but not as we know it! Find out everything you need to know in this brilliant, action-packed, fact-filled book, including:- How to build a trench- Why dogs were such good messengers- How plastic surgery was invented- Why you needed a gas mask- Just how useful mashed potato is- How the Battle of Britain was won- What it takes to be a spy- How D-Day was kept a surprise
From two acclaimed British comedians, a humorous retelling of the classic tales of Theseus for young readers. After being saved from death as a baby, Theseus went on to be educated by Daedalus and coached by Hercules. He fought the Great Tosser, fell into the clutches of Pine Bender and duffed up his Uncle Laius. He even managed to visit the Underworld. Oh—he killed a minotaur as well. All in the space of this book! Theseus certainly was some hero! Or was he? Theseus: The King Who Killed the Minotaur is the final instalment in a humorous three book series retelling some of the great Greek myths. Other books include Odysseus: The Greatest Hero of Them All and Odysseus: The Journey through Hell.
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
In this new bind-up, Sir Tony Robinson takes you on a headlong gallop through time, pointing out all the most important, funny, strange, amazing, entertaining, smelly and disgusting bits about the Greeks and Romans! Its history, but not as we know it! Find out everything you ever needed to know in this brilliant, action-packed, fact-filled book, including: - Why the ancient Greeks were mad about olive oil - How to keep the gods happy - Who Pythagoras was - Why you should never ignore an omen - Why Alexander the Great named a city after his horse, Bucephalus - How to defeat an elephant-riding army, and - How the Greeks invented the first computer, vending machine and laser death ray.
