These Horrible Histories are for ages about 8 to 12 although I think that students older than 12 can easily enjoy these books.  Of their 128 pages, about half text and half comics.  So far we only have The Measly Middle Ages, but I'm planning to order three more next week.  I ordered one a while back for my son who was then 10.  He was not interested at all, but then one day a few months later he picked it up and really liked it.  It happened the same way with the Horrible Science books, which we have two of.  He wasn't interested at first, then later he read them both and enjoyed them.  So he's asked for more of these *horrible* books, so we'll be getting some more if everything goes as planned.

I'll tell you a little about The Measly Middle Ages.  First off, a warning:  If you like things very refined with no mention of grizzly details, you should skip these books.  They are rather *horrible* little books, but at times they are rather humorous and punny (not a typo).  Here's some of the contents:  The book starts out with a timeline. 
 

Another example of the book's contents is this:  "A knightly fight now had rules.  You didn't sneak up on another knight and stab him in the back, even though that saves a lot of trouble and effort.  You had to challenge your opponent to fight and agree to the time and place.  This may seem a bit strange to you or me--it's like saying, 'Excuse me, my dear fellow, but would you meet me next Thursday, at noon at the meadow by the river, when I will do my best to beat your brains out?'"  A drawing (of a knight bending over an injured knight) next to this bit of text has this caption, "I'm awfully sorry, I've got my brains all over your nice clean armor."  See, that could be considered a little disgusting.

While the book is quite irreverent at times, it does have plenty of historical information in it.  An example is the fact that they say the Normans brought the feudal system to England and that Henry II of England said that he wished he could be rid of Thomas a Becket.  And then some of Henry's knights took it upon themselves to kill Thomas a Becket, an archbishop.  There's plenty more of good, factual history included, but I can't mention it all here.

This book is history written in a way that will engage and interest students.  It's not the run-of-the-mill info that you can find in any number of textbooks.  I definitely do not think that The Measly Middle Ages should be the only text used for learning about the Middle Ages.  But I think it would be a great addition to a unit study--sort of as a break from heavier information.  I think it's a good idea to mix up unit studies a bit with some educational fun and games.  This book fits that to a "T."

Listen to this one last little ditty--There's a drawing of a boy scratching and his father is standing next to him.  The boy says to his father, "I think I've got fleas, Dad."  The father replies, "All this plague around and you're worried about a few fleas."  Now that I find amusing!

You can buy all these books from Amazon.com.  They've got titles on topics such as the Middle Ages, Egyptians, Vikings, Romans, and Greeks.  I think they're worth a try--I'd check one out and see if you like their style or not.  My son is glad I did!