INTERVIEW: Horrible Histories writer Terry Deary discusses the Kindle, critics – and why David Cameron is like Edward II

Aug 17 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

HORRIBLE Histories author Terry Deary is asking me to imagine I’m chart-topping singer Adele.

Two stage adaptations of his best-selling books are coming to Wirral next month and they have been turned into a hit TV series – but Deary, 65, is furious his publishers are making slow progress on embracing new technologies.

He passionately believes his books should be widely available on e-reading devices like Kindle but so far there are only plans for a trial with eight.

“Imagine you’re Adele and you say I’m not going to allow my songs to be downloaded. How long do you think you’d last?”

I suggest five minutes.

“Exactly!” he exclaims. “You’ve got to keep up with technology. The music industry learned the hard way. Kindle is now the thing, which my books are not getting.

“The publishing industry is going off a cliff. They’re stupid, they’re short-sighted and they’re blind.”

The Horrible Histories series started as an idea from Deary’s publishers for two history joke books.

They soon became a publishing phenomenon and, arguably, created a whole new genre.

“I’d written a Christmas joke book for them which was a huge success and they said ‘Can you do a history joke book with a few facts thrown in?’, he recalls.

“When my researchers looked this up,I thought the facts were more interesting than the jokes book, so it became a fact book with jokes!”

Sunderland-born Deary insists he doesn’t write about history but human behaviour.

He argues the “ guts and gore” label critics have given the Horrible Histories series is misleading – and says the media has a lot to answer for.

He said: “To call me a historian and to say I’m most influential in that field, it’s bizarre. A student told me I’ve inspired generations of young people – well, I’m not that old!

“It’s not all gore – I’m able to deal with things like the holocaust then the jokes stop.

“The books look at human behaviour and there are also a lot of stories about heroics, where people have done incredible things against the odds.

“If you pick up a newspaper today you won’t find a story about an old lady crossing the road and not getting hit by a bus – it’d be old lady gets halfway across the road and is hit by a bus.

“It’s people like you who whet our appetites for the sensational.”

Deary is focusing firmly on the present and the future these days.

He’s working on two TV series and is about to run the length of Hadrian’s Wall for the Integrating Children charity in his home county of Durham.

But he’s a firm believer in learning from history – and draws parallels between last week’s UK riots and the time of Edward II.

“It’s got so many parallels in history,” he says.

“What the Eton boys in Westminster can’t do is understand why the people are rioting, any more than Edward II could understand why the peasants revolted.

“You need to be objective and I’m afraid that only comes from time. This is why you can look better at historical things than you can at the contemporary.

“Horrible Histories very often say ‘this is this person’s story – what would you have done?’

“So with the new revolt you might look at it from the point of view of a policeman who was hit on the head with a brick or a rioter who felt agrieved at what had happened to them.”

Unable to resist, the author of more than 250 children’s books adds mischievously: “Then you would have David Cameron standing on the steps of Downing Street and sounding like half a million headteachers and think, is it any wonder that people hate you when you talk down to them?

“I don’t want to just entertain people – I want to make sure future generations question the establishment.

“There are still lessons to be learned from history.”

l Horrible Histories: The Ruthless Romans and The Awful Egyptians will be performed at the Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton, from September 13 to 17.

Standard tickets are £16/£10 concessions.

To book call 666 0000 or buy online at www.floralpavilion.com.