1066 and All That

1066 and All That is a work of tongue in cheek cod history by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman. It was first published in Punch magazine in serial format, before being published in book form by Methuen & Co. Ltd in 1930.

A parody of the way in which history was taught in English schools at the time, it purports to contain "all the history you can remember", and covers the history of Britain, from Roman times up to the end of World War I, at which time "America became Top Nation", and thus there was no more history to record (preempting Francis Fukuyama by several decades).

The title page states that the book comprises "103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates", while the preface mentions that originally 4 dates were planned, but last minute research revealed that 2 of them were not memorable.

Despite the title, the book does feature history before 1066. Famous phrases from the book include "Do not write on both sides of the paper at once", "Wave of saints", and "Do you consider yourself a Good King or a Bad King?"

See also: Good Thing, Bad Thing