The Greatest Nobodies of History cover art

The Greatest Nobodies of History

Minor Characters from Major Moments

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The Greatest Nobodies of History

By: Adrian Bliss
Narrated by: Adrian Bliss
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Narrated by Adrian Bliss, featuring the voices of Beth Rylance, Sebastian Humphreys and Kristin Atherton.

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 frontlines of the Great Emu War.

All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true...

'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

©2024 Adrian Bliss (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Historical World Funny Witty
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I follow Adrian on Instagram and love his quirky reels. Always good for a laugh. This book is equally delightful and you also learn something too.

A modern interpretation of history

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This book of short stories had everything and was very entertaining.
Taking a snippet of information from actual History and giving it an Adrian Bliss Twist was a stroke of genius.
As an Australian I was tickled pink to hear about our beloved Emu War...

A Greatest Read

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I enjoyed the unique perspective from the 'unknown' people (or animals) who may have witnessed a well-known event in history. Very entertaining as well as a learning experience!

very interesting and entertaining

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Fun & informative, with excellent delivery. Does a good job of entertaining the listener whilst still acknowledging the Not Funny parts of history. I hope there's more to come!

Lots of chuckles

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Amazing stories, well read and can’t wait for next book with even more interesting nobodies of history.

Outstanding

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Adrian Bliss is a fantastic writer (and reader) I'm hoping Adrian writes another. highly recommended for those who enjoy dry humour

fantastic. dry humour.

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The stories were amusing enough, and well narrated. It isn’t the sort of thing I like, but many will enjoy it.

Not my kind of humour

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