Hilarious and in your face, this delivered just like the Netflix series does! I couldn't stop laughing, definitely recommend.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CUNK is the only kind of history book I can read. An enjoyable and entertaining book for the history buffs out there and the non-ones as well! I love how the author’s sense of humor is both witty and silly! And almost every sentence is crafted with a joke.

4.5 stars rounded to 5.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Don't read this book if you don't already have any kind of knowledge of world history. You will be so confused, as this is a comedy book, not a history book. Not to say that you need to have a college level understanding or anything, but enough to recognize names that are misspelled for comedic effect (for example, George Ohwell, instead of George Orwell). The fact that she didn't start with the correct spelling and then changed it to an incorrect one is one of the reasons I am giving it a four star instead of a five. I totally understand why she was using the wrong names, having seen her stuff before, but still.


The book is so funny, loved it so much. If you aren't sure if this is something you would like, look up some of the author's videos on Tiktok or YouTube. She is so funny. When I saw she had written this book, I knew I wanted to read it.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free kindle book. My opinions are my own and are freely given.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I love Diane Morgan and Philomena, but this felt a bit flat for me. Cunk is definitely more a tv personality

Reading this made me feel nostalgic for the books that used to come out of The Daily Show and Colbert. In this (short) history of the world, Philomena Cunk brings her trademark style and ... let's say knowledge level, with the additional treat of illustrations. Not as densely illustrated as I was expecting - there were maybe a dozen throughout - but I always appreciate Philomena's point of view and vision of the world. A great gift or a quick refresher for oneself on major world events over the past few millennia.

Philomena Cunk, the brilliant creation of comedian Diane Morgan, is here to tell you all about world history, in her own peculiar way. Both dismissive and woefully ignorant, Philomena bumbles through most major events, including Immersive Story sidebars where she asks questions like, "You are a Christian in the Colosseum: how close do you let the lion get before reappraising your relationship with Jesus?"

I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book - and I think we could all use some laughter.

This book is exactly what I expected, which is a delightful and hilarious foray into Philomena's Cunk's unique view of world history. If you've seen her TV shows then you can practically hear her voice in your head as you're reading. In fact, I found myself wishing at a few points that I had waited for the audio book because I think that hearing her read the text is definitely the way to go with this one (I'll probably get the audio book anyways).

If you like absurd histories and want something light and fun then definitely get this as soon as its available. If you haven't read her previous book then get that one too. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I was really excited for this one because I’m a huge fan of Philomena Cunk and watching her shows. This one was funny and I liked all of the chapters and didn’t think that anything dragged. There were some really funny moments and I could imagine her doing a show or special with the jokes and content in the book. Speaking of, though, I do think I would have enjoyed this one more as an audiobook. If you get the choice, I would go the audiobook route! Either way though, this is a funny and easy read that helps readers escape from reality for a little bit.

I’m rather upset that I had to interrupt my doomshopping and doomscrolling to read The World According to Cunk. It totally got me out of my post election funk because it’s hilarious! Truly laugh-out-loud funny.

While based on the real world, and history, and stuff like that, Cunk has an unusual viewpoint that she is quite willing to share.

“Cavemen were just posh bears.”

“A fence is a state-of-the-art wooden forcefield.”

Writing “was an early version of data harvesting, about actual harvesting.”

The Crusades were when “Christian Europe decided that the Muslims needed help; specifically, they needed Jesus‘s love stabbed into them.“

Cunk also frequently confuses common terms to humorous effect. For example, she states Europe and Asia is the landmass collectively known as Erasure and that the corpulent ruler and initiator of the Church of England is named Henry the Ate.

The book is also very British. Despite frequent viewing of British mystery series, I still had to rely on my Kindle to define a word or two per chapter. So keep your phone handy if you are reading the hardcover version.

Overall, The World According to Cunk is a book to either love (if you have a sense of humor and love puns), or be frustrated by (especially common with stuffy non-British historians, I suppose). I fall strongly in the first group. Netflix has a Cunk series that is also a world history with less detail but more pictures. The jokes are mostly new in this book so fans of the series will most likely love the book too. 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with an advanced review copy.

I have loved watching Philomena Cunk for such a long time so I was very excited to read this and learn all about the world's history via Cunk. Such a funny read overall.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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THIS WAS HARDER TO WRITE THAN I EXPECTED
There was a part of me that wanted to just do a light edit of my post about Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena and call it good. But that seemed like cheating. But there are giant parts of it that would work.

Still, I'm borrowing a little here and there from it, just so I don't have to re-invent the wheel. I apologize in advance if you don't appreciate that. Also, let this section serve as an all-purpose footnote so no one accuses me of plagiarism.

WHAT'S THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CUNK ABOUT?
It's a history of the world, as much of one as Cunk can fit into 50,000 words with minimal research, anyway. The point is to get it out in time for the holiday season—targeted toward the UK and the US, so it'll predominantly be about the history of that/those cultures, while remaining the sort of history book that recognizes that things happen in parts of the world that aren't dominated by Western Culture.

Also, we're told, that she's taking the innovative approach to history and will be writing chronologically, not alphabetically or by some other standard. Whodathunk it? History in order. I tell you, what this Philomena Cunk is a gutsy maverick.

If you've watched YouTube videos, Instagram reels, or any of the other quick ways we share videos online (with or without copyright infringement), or if you've seen any of the various series/specials on Netflix or British TV networks that I can't remember the names of, you know what you're getting into with Philomena Cunk. If you haven't, well, that's trickier. It means you’re a reader or something rare like that—Cunk is a fictional documentarian (or at least the presenter of them). her approach to the documentary specials or the history in this book are a combination of naïveté, misunderstandings (especially in mispronunciation/misspellings), and cynicism.

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS
Doing a deep dive on this would be difficult for two reasons—I read an ARC, so I don't want to quote anything (also, it would be very hard to know when to stop. Ask my wife, after you read the end). The second, and primary reason, is that if I talk too much about things, it'll ruin the jokes for you when you read this (and you really should)

In lieu of that, here are some miscellaneous observations:
* Every time Cunk looks at non-English speaking cultures was a win.
* You'd think that there are only so many jokes you can make about "the Dark Ages" involving the absence of luminescence—and that few of them would be funny. And you'd be wrong on both counts.
* Best WWI humor since Black Adder Goes Forth. I don't know that there's a lot of competition there, but Cunk nailed that material.
* The technology jokes landed every time.
* I'm still chuckling at the phrasing for Caesar's cause of death
* You are going to hear Diane Morgan’s deadpan delivery in your head whether you read this or get the audiobook. Just know that going in. (you likely assumed it that already, so know that you’re right).

IT DID FALTER A BIT
The last chapter, "The Global Globe" started off strong, but as the history got more and more current, the humor changed. Maybe it's that Cunk's particular brand of absurdity requires some distance to really work. However you explain it, this just didn't work for me.

Now, was it funny political humor? Satisfying satire? Yes—I truly appreciated almost all of it. It just didn't feel very Cunk-like. I couldn't "hear" Diane Morgan's voice. If it'd been in another book, I'd have really liked the end of this last chapter. But here? It just felt out of place.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE WORLD ACCORDING TO CUNK?
I didn’t see (but maybe overlooked) the writers behind this book listed anywhere—but whoever they were, they deserve a round of applause. Or two.

I chuckled and laughed out loud a lot while reading this. There’s really not much more to say—that’s what they were going for.

My wife doesn't get the appeal of Philomena, I don't know why, I think it's undeniable and obvious. So I really annoyed her by reading lines or paragraphs to my daughter while the three of us were in the same room. Sometimes, I had a stockpile of parts my daughter would like from reading when we weren't in the same room. My kid and I had a lot of fun laughing together at this while my wife just looked at us strangely. I don't share this to give you more insight into our fun little family dynamic—but to say that at least once (maybe three times, but Mrs. Reader denies this) even she laughed.

Seriously, up to the end of the last chapter, this was about as fun as you could want. Since I discovered Dave Barry Slept Here decades ago, I've been a sucker for history comedy—and The World According to Cunk by Philomena Cunk is a great entry in that category. (you might want to skip most of what happens after 1980).

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

I've seen her show so I was excited to read a history book by Philomena Cunk. This was exactly as expected, hilarious with a side of snark. My only complaint about this wild ride through human history is that it's far too short, but I know I'll laugh every time I read this.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

"Romans! Madrigals! The Dark Ages! Revolutions! Trumpets! The Oranges of The First World War! All of this (except trumpets) and more, is covered in this definitive, easy-clean history of all world history so far, written by the 21st Century's leading historian, philosopher and thinkerer Philomena Cunk.

Focussing on the inventions, art, and brainboxes that made the modern world the unbearable place it is today, The World According To Cunk is the history book to end all history books: more unputdownable than Andrew Marr's History Of The World, less unpickupable than Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens, and noticeably less in ancient Greek than Herodotus' Histories.

Philomena Cunk says: "About the world, written on the world, and available at all the world's remaining bookshops, The World According To Cunk is the definitive history of the world. There will never need be another history book. Unless something major happens. Even then they'll probably just put something up on TikTok about it. A word of warning: please don't buy it if you're expecting anything about trumpets in it. You will only be disappointed.""

Dammit, I wanted trumpets. But only in the ancient Greek.

This had that humor and history element that I was looking for from the Netflix show. I was hooked from the first page and really enjoyed how everything worked and I learned a lot. It had that charm that I was looking for from Philomena Cunk and glad I read this.