What made the Romans laugh? Was ancient Rome a carnival, filled with practical jokes and hearty chuckles? Or was it a carefully regulated culture in which the uncontrollable excess of laughter was a force to fear—a world of wit, irony, and knowing smiles? How did Romans make sense of laughter? What role did it play in the world of the law courts, the imperial palace, or the spectacles of the arena?

Laughter in Ancient Rome explores one of the most intriguing, but also trickiest, of historical subjects. Drawing on a wide range of Roman writing—from essays on rhetoric to a surviving Roman joke book—Mary Beard tracks down the giggles, smirks, and guffaws of the ancient Romans themselves.

From ancient “monkey business” to the role of a chuckle in a culture of tyranny, she explores Roman humor from the hilarious, to the momentous, to the surprising. But she also reflects on even bigger historical questions. What kind of history of laughter can we possibly tell? Can we ever really “get” the Romans’ jokes?

Discover all the foul facts about the Slimy Stuarts with history's most horrible headlines. All the foul facts about the Slimy Stuarts are ready to uncover, including: why some slimy Stuarts ate toads, snails and fleas which king picked his nose and never washed his hands and why people wore fish on their feet! * fully illustrated throughout and packed with horrible stories - with all the horribly hilarious bits included * with a fresh take on the classic Horrible Histories style, perfect for fans old and new * the perfect series for anyone looking for a fun and informative read * Horrible Histories has been entertaining children and families for generations with books, TV, stage show, magazines, games and 2019's brilliantly funny Horrible Histories: the Movie - Rotten Romans. Get your history right here and collect the whole horrible lot. Read all about it!

The Sunday Times bestseller 'Substantial, meticulous, depressing, hilarious, rude ... like flipping through a grotesque highlights album of the country's downfall' Dominic Minghella 'A wickedly funny, furious, fast-paced romp through a decade of governmental failures' Rosie Holt 'Buy it for relatives who read the Daily Mail. It might work as an antidote'Jemma ForteIn 2020 the United Kingdom reached a bewildering milestone: ten successive years of Conservative rule. In that decade there were three prime ministers, each in turn described as the worst leader we ever had; ministerial resignations by the hundred; and an unrelenting stream of ineffectual, divisive bum-slurry oozing from 10 Downing Street. The Decade in Tory is an inglorious, rollicking and entirely true account of ten years of demonstrable lies, relentless incompetence, epic waste, serial corruption, official police investigations, anti-democratic practices, abuse of power, dereliction of duty and hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths. With his signature scathing wit, Russell Jones breaks down the government's interminable failures year by year, covering everything from David Cameron's pledge to tackle inequality - which reduced UK life expectancy for the first time since 1841 - through the bewildering storm of lies and betrayals that led to Brexit, devastating education cuts, serial mismanagement of the NHS and Boris Johnson's calamitous response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will leave you gasping and wondering: can things possibly get any worse?

Discover all the foul facts about the history of air travel with history's most horrible headlines: in-flight edition. The master of making history fun, Terry Deary, turns his attention to the skies. From the Chinese prisoners who were sent up on kites and the brave but foolish failures who jumped from a height on home-made wings to the first real successes of the Montgolfier balloon and the Wright Brothers' powered flight. It's all in Horrible Histories: Up in the Air: fully illustrated throughout and packed with hair-raising stories - with all the horribly hilarious bits included with a fresh take on the classic Horrible Histories style, perfect for fans old and new the perfect series for anyone looking for a fun and informative read Horrible Histories has been entertaining children and families for generations with books, TV, stage show, magazines, games and 2019's brilliantly funny Horrible Histories: the Movie - Rotten Romans. Get your history right here and collect the whole horrible lot. Read all about it!

Featuring comedic captions revealing what dogs are really thinking while they do their number twos, this eye-watering collection of photos is guaranteed to gross you out while cracking you up Dogs gotta defecate, just like people. But unlike us, they do it out in public. And we watch them in the act like the absolute weirdos we are. Sometimes we even take pictures. What must our canine companions think of all this? Well, Pooping Pets: The Dog Edition is here to capture and share these priceless moments in all their disgusting glory. Within its pages, you'll find the private thoughts of dogs as they empty their bow-wow-wow-els, including: Hehehe, you'll be picking this up in a minute! Err, could you not watch me while I birth this butt-log? Bears aren't the only creatures that lay one out in the woods! Not for the faint-hearted, but the perfect gift for lovers of toilet humour, this poo-blication is a steaming tribute to the bodily functions of our four-legged friends.