Well-known (to English historians, anyway) hilarious comic history of England, much wittier than other attempts on that line. I particularly like the questionnaire for would-be kings at Warwick the Kingmakers "Are you a good plain crook?" And Now All This which follows is a survey of the modern world circa 1931, not quite as good but with some clever lines --Russia is full of kulaks, or rich peasants, who are dead, and kodaks, or happy peasants, who tell no tales. The illustrations are extremely lively. My brother and I loved this copy almost to death. ( )