Dangerous Days Series by Terry Deary

The reign of Elizabeth I - a Golden Age? Try asking her subjects...Elizabethans did all they could to survive in an age of sin and bling, of beddings and beheadings, galleons and guns. Explorers set sail for new worlds, risking everything to bring back slaves, gold and the priceless potato. Elizabeth lined her coffers while her subjects lived in squalor with hunger, violence and misery as bedfellows... moreThe reign of Elizabeth I - a Golden Age? Try asking her subjects...Elizabethans did all they could to survive in an age of sin and bling, of beddings and beheadings, galleons and guns. Explorers set sail for new worlds, risking everything to bring back slaves, gold and the priceless potato. Elizabeth lined her coffers while her subjects lived in squalor with hunger, violence and misery as bedfellows. Shakespeare shone and yet the beggars, doxies and thieves scraped and cheated to survive in the shadows.These were dangerous days. If you survived the villains, and the diseases didn't get you, then the lawmen might. Pick the wrong religion and the scaffold or stake awaited you. The toothless, red-wigged queen sparkled in her jewelled dresses, but the Golden Age was only the surface of the coin. The rest was base metal. less

The author of children's series Horrible Histories presents the second installment of history's terrors and torments, diseases and deaths, in his popular history series for adultsFacing feuds and frauds, robberies, and riots, and the disasters of dangerous drivers, deadly designers, and sleepy signalmen, Victorians risked more than just delays when stepping on a steam train... moreThe author of children's series Horrible Histories presents the second installment of history's terrors and torments, diseases and deaths, in his popular history series for adultsFacing feuds and frauds, robberies, and riots, and the disasters of dangerous drivers, deadly designers, and sleepy signalmen, Victorians risked more than just delays when stepping on a steam train. Victorian inventors certainly didn't lack steam, but squabbling over who deserved the title of "The Father of the Locomotive" and busy enjoying their fame and fortune, safety on the rails was not their priority. Brakes were seen as a needless luxury (until a steamer started to slide downhill towards disaster), and boilers had an inconvenient tendency to overheat and explode, and in turn, blow up anyone in reach. Four years after a mysterious murderer left only his victim's crushed hat and walking stick on board a first class carriage, England trembled at the trains once more. Poorly timed repairs caused a locomotive to derail and crash into the shallow River Beult, killing 10 passengers and injuring 40 more. The infamous Staplehurst disaster is said to have traumatized passenger Charles Dickens, threatening to expose his affair with the young Nell Ternan, and altering his health and writing for the rest of his life. Often recognized as having revolutionized travel and industrial Britain, Victorian railways were perilous, and few other histories honor the lives of the people killed or injured aboard the risky railroad. less

DANGEROUS DAYS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE is the first in a new adult series by Terry Deary, the author of the hugely bestselling Horrible Histories, popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and sharp wit, and among adults for engaging children (and themselves) with history.The Romans have long been held up as one of the first 'civilised' societies, and yet in fact they were capable of immense cruelty. Not only that, but they made the killing of humans into a sport... moreDANGEROUS DAYS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE is the first in a new adult series by Terry Deary, the author of the hugely bestselling Horrible Histories, popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and sharp wit, and among adults for engaging children (and themselves) with history.The Romans have long been held up as one of the first 'civilised' societies, and yet in fact they were capable of immense cruelty. Not only that, but they made the killing of humans into a sport. The spoiled emperors were the perpetrators (and sometimes the victims) of some imaginative murders. DANGEROUS DAYS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE will include some of the violent ways to visit the Elysian Fields (i.e. death) including: animal attack in the Coliseum; being thrown from the Tarpeian Rock - 370 deserters in 214 AD alone (or if the emperor didn't like your poetry); by volcanic eruption from Vesuvius; by kicking (Nero's fatal quarrel with the Empress Poppea); from poison mushrooms (Claudius); by great fires; torturous tarring; flogging to death; boiling lead (the invention of 'kind' Emperor Constantine); or being skinned alive by invading barbarians. DANGEROUS DAYS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE looks at the back-story leading up to the victims' deaths, and in doing so gives the general reader a concise history of a frequently misunderstood era. less