Wacky humor and cartoon-style illustrations chronicle the disgusting but-true details about foul-fighting, gruesome kings and queens, and the fifty most vicious villains of all time. Included are the horrible hunters from prehistory; the savage cities, terrible tombs, and rotten Rome of the Ancient World; beastly barbarians, nasty knights, and terrifying torture of the Middle Ages; the evil explorers and rowdy rebellions of the New World; and the cruel criminals and wicked wars of more modern times. A British to Ameri can glossary is provided. mjw

Originally published as Horrible Histories by Scholastic Great Britain, in 2003.