His  funny books about history have sold more than 100 million copies and inspired generations of children to take an interest in the subject but it’s a brave man who dares call Terry Deary a historian.

The writer the Horrible Histories books told News Shopper: “I am not a historian. I write about people. I write about human experience.

“Historians are tied by all sorts of rules about accuracy and references and bibliographies and sources. I pull my sources from all over and I scribble them down.

“I have only ever met three historians I like and one of them died the other day so that’s down to two now.”

Terry, 69, was an actor by trade who had become a novelist when he was first asked to write the first book in the series, Terrible Tudors, in 1993.

In 20 years, there have been more than 100 of the books and in 2009 the concept expanded successfully to television on CBBC.

Terry then wrote a live show Barmy Britain, which was another triumph and has led to two more– Groovy Greeks and Incredible Invaders - which come to the Orchard Theatre in Dartford from July 23 to 26.



The live shows are popular, Terry said, because audiences have the chance to interact where they can’t with a book or a TV show.

He said: “The shows are very, very active. The audience can join in the songs, they can feel the three-dimensional effects – the rats jumping out of the shop and swarming over them, the cannonball exploding and splintering them with wood, or the quiet moments when the poppies scatter from the sky in World War One.

“Theatre is a different experience and it is nice that an idea of taking history and making it entertaining can be translated into different media.”

News Shopper: Theatre review: Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors

He added: “In every medium, people come away and say that was so much fun but I learnt an awful lot.

“Whether they are adults or children, they all say the same. The balance is natural, really. We tell true stories.

“True stories are what fascinate us, even more than fiction.

“People just want to know about other human beings and how they really behaved.”

The approach of just wanting to tell great stories rather than recount dry facts is what persuaded Terry to say ‘yes’ when he was approached to write the first Horrible Histories.

He said: “It was a massive, massive advantage not being a historian.

“I came to it with an open mind, a fresh mind, and I know how to retell stories, whereas historians don’t.

“You can read a history textbook aimed at children and the language and the vocabulary is utterly dire.

“First children have to decode this before they get meanings, before they get education. You should just get a big bonfire of school textbooks and burn the lot.”

  • Horrible Histories’ Groovy Greeks and Incredible Invaders are at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford from July 23 to 26. Go to orchardtheatre.co.uk or call 01322 220000.