As someone who would join a cult with no questions asked if I was allowed to watch Horrible Histories every night, listening to the man himself: the author of Horrible Histories (and a variety of other children’s and adult novels) definitely healed my inner child.
Deary, author of three hundred and forty-two novels, spent the duration of his lecture hopping from point to point about his own experiences with the public, his new novel Revolting: a riotous history of rebellions and revolutions, and some political opinions that many members of the audience (including myself) did not expect to hear in a lecture theatre in Sheffield’s Student Union on a Saturday afternoon.
When discussing his latest novel, Deary exposed that it was dedicated to “Mr and Mrs Peasant”: subtly highlighting the importance of ordinary people to make the world the way it is: beginning his many anti-authoritarian comments concerning both the past and present.
The main questions Deary asks in his novel are “What would make you revolt?” and “How far would you go when you revolt?”. As the political black sheep of my family, annoying grandparents by being “too woke” since 2015, these words definitely spoke to me. In a world of protests and many a questionable government, humans and students especially are revolting every single day. Following their ancestors: the Suffragettes, the Luddites, the Peasants, the Celts etc…
Revolution, to an extent, is one of the most accessible ways of change making: even a social media post or simple statement has the potential to create change, especially in the era of modern media.
Deary also focused during his talk on the way history is taught, and how we are conditioned to believe it. The example of 6000 Roman soldiers standing up confessing “I am Spartacus” is given – an aspect from pop culture that it is always thrown about – which indeed has no truth in it whatsoever. The use of the term “Suffragettes” which was coined by the Daily Mail in a derogatory manner about the action of the Suffragists to undermine their actions and achievements, is discussed by Deary making the audience guilty by association. This further prompted his labelling of educational institutions as “a limb of the establishment” and a questionable comment calling the education regulations body “Ofstapo, or something like that”.
Alongside his repetition of the key questions within his book, the audience was frequently warned (quite rightly in my opinion) to “never trust the government”, reflecting that in history there has always been some form of government intervention to crush revolutions or frame the rebels and this is an action that will never stop. He mentioned how many a petition is spoiled by a joke name, and that indeed is another trip of the government to corrupt a healthy, democratic form of change making. This adds to his acknowledgement of the government, and those who decide the historical curriculum as a bunch of “muppets and clowns”.
Although I personally really enjoyed Deary’s talk, and can acknowledge and respect some of his statements, I cannot deny that he seemed to go from tangent to tangent and indeed made some comments that seemed unrehearsed, and like he was purposely trying to name drop current affairs in government to feel more relatable. I can’t be entirely sure if my judgement and reaction to this lecture would be the same if this wasn’t the same man who was behind my favourite childhood TV show.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
