The Greatest Nobodies of History, Adrian Bliss
The Greatest Nobodies of History, Adrian Bliss
List: $17.50 | Sale: $12.25
Club: $8.75

The Greatest Nobodies of History
Minor Characters from Major Moments

Author: Adrian Bliss

Narrator: Adrian Bliss, Beth Rylance, Sebastian Humphreys, Kristin Atherton

Unabridged: 7 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/22/2024


Synopsis

“All at once funny, touching, dazzlingly informative and fascinating, brilliantly imaginative and altogether wonderful. Capable of switching between divine silliness and genuinely tender sweetness, tragedy, and wonder.”—STEPHEN FRY

History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters.
 
The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII, and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the Renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor’s toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch.
 
These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it’s high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately—thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts, and memoirs in bottles—now they can.
 
Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, The Greatest Nobodies of History is a surreal love letter to life’s forgotten heroes, featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the front lines of the Great Emu War.
 
All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true.

About The Author

Adrian Bliss is a creator, writer, and performer from London best known for his comedy sketches, which explore everything from history to natural science to religion. Bliss’s work has earned him nearly twenty million followers across social media and has been featured on CNN, in The Times, and in Vogue. Adrian Bliss was named one of the New Faces of Comedy at Just For Laughs, and his one-man play Inside Everyone sold out its debut run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival prior to opening.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brendan on August 30, 2024

I've read hundreds of books and now I can finally confirm I've read one with a chapter from the point of view of a ferret. Did I ever expect to write this sentence? No. Am I glad I can? Yes, and I have Adrian Bliss to thank. Bliss is a very well-known content creator on social media. No, don't run aw......more

Goodreads review by My_Strange_Reading on November 15, 2024

The format held such funny and silly promise: Introduce an event/time period/person, and then introduce a completely ridiculous retelling of said time, and then round it out with the facts. I enjoyed the first couple stories, but then it began to feel overdone and too silly.......more

Goodreads review by Youssra on September 10, 2024

I never thought I would be giving a History book 5 stars but here I am. This was an absolutely delightful way to learn about key moments in history through the eyes of seemingly insignificant people/animals/trees/viruses🤣 Where else can you learn about the Bubonic Plague staight from the virus itsel......more

Goodreads review by Ojo on August 30, 2024

have been waiting for this to come out it was SO good, love the style of comedy and having the chapters based on the pov of non-human characters was such a great touch, also loved the footnotes and final few pages of each chapter explaining the real history behind them, 10/10 would read again......more

Goodreads review by hamna on October 02, 2024

ouu my first audiobook and it was a trip! i didn’t know audiobooks required so much forethought and planning because my god in christ i couldn’t figure out a single way to listen that wasn’t actively like, slotting out time for it. i loved this so much. i’ve been looking forward to it ever since i he......more


Quotes

“All at once funny, touching, dazzlingly informative and fascinating, brilliantly imaginative and altogether wonderful. Capable of switching between divine silliness and genuinely tender sweetness, tragedy, and wonder.”—Stephen Fry