Terry Deary
Encyclopedia
Terry Deary is a children's author now living in Burnhope
, County Durham
, England.
A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories
series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.
A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV
in 2002.
The first series of a live action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC
in 2009 and a third series has been released on CBBC. Deary himself has played some parts on Horrible Histories.
Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult
reading groups alike for his True Stories
series (see below for series list).
He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland
in 2000.
As of January 2011, he retired from writing children's books after 35 years.
He sometimes appears in CBBC
TV show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
as a monk for The Measly Middle Ages
He is one of Britain's best-selling authors of the 21st century, was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and was voted Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author Of The 20th Century.
series was released in both hardback
and paperback
beginning 1992 with the latest edition (non-combination) being published and released in 1999. A list of the books in this series are below:
This is a list of the series:
Terry Deary obtained a D-grade in A-level history, but went on to sell more than 20 million copies of gory children’s books on the subject. However, he reserved his greatest indignation for Niall Ferguson, one of the country’s best known historians. In an interview, he said: "Obnoxious people like Niall Ferguson write a book to prove that the British Empire was a good thing...He’s a deeply offensive right wing man who uses history to get across a political point."
Professor Ferguson, a former Oxford University lecturer who has made several television documentaries on the British Empire, America and money, said he was surprised by the comments. He said: "It’s a little like asking Rory Bremner for his opinion on George Osborne’s spending cuts or Sacha Baron Cohen to review Simon Schama’s forthcoming history of the Jews...I have read some of the Horrible Histories to my children, along with Harry Potter, The Hobbit and many other children’s books. They’re quite funny. And so is this." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282884/Horrible-Histories-writer-Terry-Deary-slams-seedy-devious-historians.html
Burnhope
Burnhope is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is located in the Craghead valley on the opposite side to Stanley and has approximately 1200 inhabitants....
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England.
A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories
Horrible Histories
Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. They are designed to engage children in history by concentrating on the unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms...
series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.
A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
in 2002.
The first series of a live action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
in 2009 and a third series has been released on CBBC. Deary himself has played some parts on Horrible Histories.
Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
reading groups alike for his True Stories
True Stories
True Stories may refer to:* True Stories , a 1986 film by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne* True Stories , a 1986 Talking Heads album featuring songs from the film...
series (see below for series list).
He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland
University of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, north east England. The university has more than 17,500 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
in 2000.
As of January 2011, he retired from writing children's books after 35 years.
He sometimes appears in CBBC
CBBC
CBBC is one of two brand names used for the BBC's children's television strands. Between 1985 and 2002, CBBC was the name given to all the BBC's programmes on TV for children aged under 14...
TV show Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games
Horrible Histories: Gory Games is a television game show co-produced by Citrus Television & Lion Television for the BBC. It is a spin-off of the main Horrible Histories show. The first series began on 30 May 2011, the same day on which the first episode of Horrible Histories series three first aired...
as a monk for The Measly Middle Ages
He is one of Britain's best-selling authors of the 21st century, was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and was voted Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author Of The 20th Century.
True Stories Series
This non-fictionNon-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
series was released in both hardback
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
and paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
beginning 1992 with the latest edition (non-combination) being published and released in 1999. A list of the books in this series are below:
Tudor Terror Series
These historical novels are based on situations that happened in real life although are based around the Tudor and Elizabethan times.This is a list of the series:
- The Prince of Rags and Patches (a historical novel based on the murder of the Princes in the TowerPrinces in the TowerThe Princes in the Tower is a term which refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville alive at the time of their father's death...
) - The King in Blood Red and Gold (a novel based on Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, the Scottish WarsAnglo-Scottish WarsThe Anglo-Scottish Wars were a series of wars fought between England and Scotland during the sixteenth century.After the Wars of Scottish Independence, England and Scotland had fought several times during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In most cases, one country had attempted to...
and the Border ReiversBorder ReiversBorder Reivers were raiders along the Anglo–Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Their ranks consisted of both Scottish and English families, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their victims' nationality...
) - The Lady of Fire and Tears (a historical novel based on Mary, Queen of Scots, and the spy tradeEspionageEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
) - The Knight of Stars and Storms (a novel based on The Armada, DrakeFrancis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
, piracy and the Spanish problem) - The Lord of the Dreaming Globe (a novel based on ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, London plaguesGreat Plague of LondonThe Great Plague was a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England that killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20% of London's population. The disease is identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted through a flea vector...
and the Essex rebellionRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
) - The Queen of the Dying Light (a historical novel based on John Dee'sJohn Dee (mathematician)John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
witchcraft plotsEuropean witchcraftEuropean Witchcraft is witchcraft and magic that is practised primarily in the locality of Europe.-Antiquity:Instances of persecution of witchcraft are documented from Classical Antiquity, paralleling evidence from the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament.In Ancient Greece, for example, Theoris,...
and Elizabeth IElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
)
Terry Deary quotes
"I've no interest in schools. They have no relevance in the 21st century. They were a Victorian idea to get kids off the street. Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating? At my school there were 52 kids in the class and all I learned was how to pass the 11-plus. Testing is the death of education. Kids should leave school at 11 and go to work. Not down the mines or up chimneys, mind, but working with computers or something relevant. Everything I learned after 11 was a waste of time. Trigonometry, Boyle's law: it's never been of any use to me. They should have been teaching me the life skills I was going to need, such as building relationships, parenting and managing money. I didn't have a clue about any of these things at 18. Schools need to change."Controversy
Terry Deary has said of historians: "[They are nearly as seedy and devious as politicians...They pick on a particular angle and select the facts to prove their case and make a name for themselves... They don’t write objective history......Eventually you can see through them all. They all come with a twist."Terry Deary obtained a D-grade in A-level history, but went on to sell more than 20 million copies of gory children’s books on the subject. However, he reserved his greatest indignation for Niall Ferguson, one of the country’s best known historians. In an interview, he said: "Obnoxious people like Niall Ferguson write a book to prove that the British Empire was a good thing...He’s a deeply offensive right wing man who uses history to get across a political point."
Professor Ferguson, a former Oxford University lecturer who has made several television documentaries on the British Empire, America and money, said he was surprised by the comments. He said: "It’s a little like asking Rory Bremner for his opinion on George Osborne’s spending cuts or Sacha Baron Cohen to review Simon Schama’s forthcoming history of the Jews...I have read some of the Horrible Histories to my children, along with Harry Potter, The Hobbit and many other children’s books. They’re quite funny. And so is this." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282884/Horrible-Histories-writer-Terry-Deary-slams-seedy-devious-historians.html
Other books
A list of other books published by Terry Deary are below:- Spooks (1997)
- Hope StreetHope StreetHope Street is the name of several streets:* Hope Street, Liverpool* Hope Street, Glasgow* Hope Street, Dunedin* Hope Street, Weymouth, Dorset* Hope Street, Providence, Rhode Island* Hope Street Hope Street may also refer to:...
(1980) - Ghost For Sale (2001)
- The Treasure Of Crazy Horse (2001)
- The Custard Kid (2001)
- The Wishing Well Ghost (2002)
- Into The Lion's Den (2002)
- Footsteps In The Fog (2003)
- The Boy Who Haunted Himself (2004)
- The Last Viking (2005)
- The King In Blood Red And Gold (2005)
- The Prince Of Rags And Patches (2005)
- The Fire Thief (2005)
- The Lady Of Fire And Tears (2005)
- The Hat-Trick (2006)
- The Lord Of The Dreaming Globe (2006)
- Queen Of The Dying Light (2006)
- Flight Of The Fire Thief (2006)
- The Fire Thief Fights Back (2007)
- Potty Politics (part of the The Knowledge series)
- Great big Father Christmas joke book
- Horrible HistoriesHorrible HistoriesHorrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. They are designed to engage children in history by concentrating on the unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms...
- Truly Terrible TalesTruly Terrible TalesTruly Terrible Tales is one of the countless spin-offs of Terry Deary's Horrible Histories. This children's book series tells the true stories of the lives of explorers, scientists and writers in a light-hearted style. The books are illustrated by Scoular Anderson.The series includes:*Explorers...
- Master Crook’s Crime AcademyMaster Crook’s Crime AcademyMaster Crook's Crime Academy is a 4-part crime series by Terry Deary.The saga is set in the Victorian Era - 1837, and follows the adventures of Smiff Smith and his companion; the story arc being the misdeeds of juvenile felons and the mystery of Master Crook's identity. The prime suspect is Mr...
See also
- List of children's non-fiction writers
- Horrible HistoriesHorrible HistoriesHorrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books published in the United Kingdom by Scholastic. They are designed to engage children in history by concentrating on the unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series has proved exceptionally successful in commercial terms...
- The KnowledgeThe Knowledge (book series)The Knowledge, one of the many spin-offs of Horrible Histories, is a UK book series for children, written by many different writers. It provides factual information on many subjects and originates from the Scholastic publishing company...
External links
- Terry Deary's homepage
- Terry Deary at LibraryThing
- Terry Deary's speech at the Game Based Learning Conference, London, March 2009