Horrible Histories

[rumi]

What do you think of this series?  dd read "Awesome Egyptians" and liked it.  Was thinking of getting the rest but wanted to hear from others.  Is the focus just on "gore,"
and thus very much along the lnes of today's headline-screaming mass media?   Does it actually pique interest in complex issues of social / economic / politicial significance, or reduce them into a comic / mockery for a cheap laugh?  

[kittywitty]

We have the box set and some others in the series. It is "gorey" but my kids love them and it has sparked interest in history in general and encouraged them to read more. I would say it's more of my job to pique their interest in the more complex issues rather than depend on this series (or any other besides maybe History of US or Howard Zinn together). I would not consider them cheap laughs. But then again, I am a huge history dork and still read things like Sex with Kings for fun sometimes.