Totally Chaotic History: Ancient Egypt Gets Unruly!

Here is a captivating new history series which gets off to a flying start with this fantastic paperback about the Ancient Egyptians. Written by popular author and podcaster Greg Jenner who communicates his love of history in a most engaging way. Likewise, his expert consultant, Dr Campbell Price, Egyptologist at Manchester Museum, conveys great enthusiasm for his subject.

In 23 chapters we are treated to the chronological history of the Ancient Egyptians at breakneck speed! The book covers about 3000 years from the first Egyptian pharaoh Narmer to the last pharaoh Cleopatra. We learn how Egypt itself came about, its three seasons due to the flooding of the Nile, Egyptian gods, pyramids, mummies and much more, all told with a large dose of humour. The conversational style of writing, packed full of interesting facts is very energetic and delivered at a fast pace.

I particularly enjoyed the pages entitled, ‘Mummy-making: A How to Guide’ (pp. 54-55) with its amusing budget option! Also, the ‘Historian Head-to-Head’ (pp. 58-61) between Greg and Campbell is very original and informative. There are various quizzes throughout the book and brilliant things to watch out for include the chaos meter, the accuracy alarm, fact files, notes in the margin and speech bubbles. Full marks to the talented illustrator Rikin Parekh who is kept busy in every chapter, helping the writers to bring history alive to another generation.

I fully enjoyed my journey with the Ancient Egyptians and wholeheartedly recommend this book to young people. It clearly explains both the Rosetta Stone and the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, ‘The greatest archaeological discovery ever’ (p. 154). I will now catch my breath until October when the second book in this series, Roman Britain Gets Rowdy! is published. These titles will undoubtedly energise many budding historians and I am happy that four titles are already written.