The Greatest Nobodies of History

Minor Characters from Major Moments

De: Adrian Bliss

Narrado por: Adrian Bliss, Beth Rylance, Sebastian Humphreys, Kristin Atherton

“All at once funny, touching, dazzlingly informative and fascinating, brilliantly imaginative and altogether wonderful. Capable of switching between divine silliness and genuinely tender sweetness, tragedy, and wonder.”—STEPHEN FRY

History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters.

The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII, and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the Renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor’s toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch.

These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it’s high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately—thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts, and memoirs in bottles—now they can.

Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, The Greatest Nobodies of History is a surreal love letter to life’s forgotten heroes, featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the front lines of the Great Emu War.

All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true.

©2024 Adrian Bliss (P)2024 Random House Audio

Very fun!

This creative take on history is a great listen. the narration was done really well and the stories are absolutely charming. I strongly recommend it!

Lots of fun!

Prefect reading! Hopefully there will be a volume 2 in the near future, and then a volume 3. Lots of wonderful moments that will stay with you!

i love Adrian Bliss!

this was absolutely hilarious!! Adrian Bliss never misses. his ability to create a dialogue but also use historical context is genius!

Delightful and Smart!

Thank you, Adrian for this wonderful read! We are big history buffs and you brought so much joy to these stories. I laughed a lot and even teared up a few times too. Keep telling stories! We are all better for it.

Smart, clever, funny writing perfectly performed

Adrian Bliss helped get me thru the pandemic. Already a huge fan of his humor I was surprised to be surprised by just how clever a writer he is. It seemed like a no brainer to get the audio book to hear him perform the work himself, but the writing is just so well crafted, now I want to see the words and read for them myself. The only thing that could make the experience any better would be to learn there is a volume 2 coming soon.

Surprised by joy

The title is a line from a Louise Penny novel, but fits for Mr. Bliss’ book. I thought the book would just be kind of fun and funny. Yes, it’s fun and funny. It’s also very smart and instructive, offers an amazing take on storytelling and is full of heart. I felt sure I would laugh but never knew I’d actually learn things as well. The Master’s Ferret actually brought me to tears and then ended with a laugh out loud. I know the printed version is just as wonderful but hearing him read his own work in that voice we’ve all come to love for his video shorts, makes it a terrific work. I highly recommend the book and hope it shows up on everyone’s bookshelf.

Heartwarming and hilarious (a little sad)

I loved this book! I love reading and listening about history (especially obscure history) and I knew from following Adrian on social media that he would be funny. I didn’t realize he would be such a great writer as well…His imagination and the way he presents the stories from history kept my attention for the entire book! Hopefully he’s writing the second book as I type this!!

Funny and Insightful

The author is a gifted storyteller, and by the end of this audio book, I definitely wanted more. Don't leave reviews, but didn't hesitate call this one out to others who are looking for fun history.

Loved it!

Very entertaining and also a little bit educational lol. Very well written and read! Easy to listen to and helped make my work day fly by. Hope he writes more. Such a talented individual!!

Completely enjoyed this book!

Engaging with humor on several levels. Especially loved the subtle humor. And I learned about events I didn’t think I needed to know; I found I was looking forward to “the facts” wrap up of each section. This book is creative and fun.