History's Biggest Show-offs - Andy Seed

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AUTHOR: Andy Seed

ILLUSTRATOR: Sam Caldwell
GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, History
RATING: 4 stars.

A fun look at some of the biggest “show-offs” in historical as well as modern times.

This hilarious compilation takes a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the famous (and infamous) people throughout history. The content is divided as per the time period, beginning with the ancient and making its way through post-classical and early-modern to the modern era.

The names range from well-known rulers (King Henry VIII, Alexander the Great) to inventors (Tesla, Edison) to scientists (Marie Curie, Lavoisier) to musicians (Maria Callas, Mozart) to artists (Dali, Kahlo) and many more. There are even some relatively unknown (at least to me) personalities. (For instance, Ynes Mexia and Isambard K. Brunel) The wide range of achievers and braggarts makes for an interesting and a comprehensive collection. While some of the more controversial trivia have been glossed over for a couple of the personalities, I was glad to see that Oscar Wilde’s role in the LGBTQ rights movement has been mentioned.

While some of the names herein might be familiar, seeing it with the lens of being a ‘show-off’ presents an atypical portrayal of the person concerned. The title is almost like click-bait in its essence but the book justifies it well by reiterating the exact ‘show-off’ factor for every personality.

History is usually quite boring to kids, so having it presented in a wacky manner is a great idea. There are several fun quizzes peppered in between chapters to enhance the interactivity quotient. What I especially liked was how it balanced its focus between the popular show-offs such as the imaginative and the intelligent, and the pompous show-offs such as the extravagant and the power-obsessed. It also has a fair representation of men as well as women personalities.

The presentation of the content is quite organised, with clear illustrations and proper text boxes to organise each piece of trivia. The illustrations are in harmony with the content and match the spirit of the book by adding light-hearted jokes and cheeky comments to otherwise-serious topics. They aren’t necessarily accurate of the time period, but as this entire book is based on a jocular foundation, this point isn’t an issue.

Definitely recommended for kids who want to learn about memorable historical characters in a flippant way. This could also work as an entertaining add-on to history sessions for tweens in school.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “History's BIGGEST Show-offs: The boldest, bravest and brainiest people of all time”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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