Why Horrible Histories Make Great History Education

It is probably obvious that I am a huge fan of Terry Deary’s Horrible Histories books. After all, as of the writing of this blog, I teach four different classes and workshops making use of various books from the author’s series. You might be wondering why. After all, Terry Deary is famously not a historian. So, why do we use his books as a foundation to teach about the Ancient Greeks, about the Ancient Romans and Egyptians, about the medieval history of Europe and its surrounding states, and about World War I?

In the words of Elyse Myers, famous TikToker, “Great question. I would love to tell you.”

If you have engaged in history education in the United States (and most of our parents have, directly, as learners), then it is somewhat likely that you had a very specific experience. You most likely were asked to memorize dates and events for a test. Did you remember those dates and events after the fact? Probably not so much. This was, in fact, my experience of public school history as a child. Fortunately, I tried out academic history at university and discovered that things don’t have to be that way.

The beautiful thing about Horrible Histories books is that they make a great antidote to suboptimal history education. They engage even the reluctant historian with what makes history actually engaging: the narrative and the inquiry. And humor. Lots and lots of humor. Reading through a Horrible Histories book you will, to quote a journalist’s 11-year old son, “learn stuff, and you laugh at the same time….” 

Now, as a additional upside, I have found author Terry Deary’s work to be based on largely the best available academic information. So while he may not claim to be a historian, there is definitely some rigor to the actual written material (supplied, as it turns out, by his publisher, according to the linked interview above). Honestly, though, that’s gravy for me, because I want my students to be asking a very important question as they read: “How do we know this?” And if a student is engaged by what they are reading, they will be compelled to ask that question and seek answers. And when they do that, they are acting as real historians.

Which is the point! Academic history is really just asking questions (in fact, the word “history” descends through Latin from the Greek word for “inquiries”). How do we know? Is this source telling the truth? Why might they not be? What do other sources say? The work of a historian is the work of a detective, and it’s work that anyone – middle schooler, high schooler, or otherwise – can do.

So Horrible Histories engage our students with humor and, let’s be honest, a little blood and gore, and then once a student is hooked, our program models what it is like to be a working historian. From there, love of history very often follows.

Benjamin Smith is also known as Headmaster Galahad at OnlineG3.com.  He teaches history, science, computer science, and social science at G3.