Publisher's Synopsis
This is not a history book in the traditional sense. Greg thinks about history a lot, but he also thinks about other things, and in this book he dishes up equal measures of history and opinion. As a performer and a writer Greg has never been one for avoiding distractions and digressions, and so in between writing about the facts behind certain subjects in history in this book, he takes time out to discuss: - Why he won't claim to know the identity of Jack the Ripper - How long the Hundred Years War was, and what it was all about. - Why some old jokes don't work if you don't know history, and other reasons the Magna Carta is important. - Why he feels better about the British Empire when he is in Italy than anywhere else. As part of his 'Condensed Histories', Greg doesn't attempt to cover all of English history in this book. It is all about taking the subjects that interest him, and introducing them in a way that will interest history lovers and those people who aren't so sure about history alike.
