A Brief History of the End of the F*cking World

Superb … entertaining … Phillips traverses this sprawling terrain with energy and charm. * The Telegraph *[A] topically valuable corrective for those who think - what with Gaza, Ukraine, floods, firestorms and fools with their fingers on world-ending buttons - we are indeed in the end times and should descend into our silos or colonise Mars … Fans of Phillips’s earlier books Humans: A Brief History of How we F*cked It All Up and Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t will be pleased that the ex-BuzzFeed editor is on form, not letting the grimness of his subject spoil his gagsmithery. * The Guardian *A great read … [Phillips] fills his timeline of unfulfilled apocalypses with wry humour and keeps the queue of plagues and judgements accessible. * New Scientist *Exceptionally funny from cover to cover, it is not only an entertaining read but also deeply researched and thoughtful […] his research is meticulous, and he lays it out with precision […] What sets Phillips apart from other historical writers is his ability to mix academic research with comedy. He never simply presents historical facts; he delivers them with wit, sarcasm and a deep understanding of human absurdity. His writing allows for the historical details to be engaging, and his voice shines through every word. – Ksenia Samotiy * Irish Independent *

Tom Phillips is an author and journalist. He’s worked as the editor of Full Fact and editorial director of BuzzFeed UK. Books in Tom’s internationally bestselling Brief History series have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. *A Brief History of the End of the Fcking World is his fourth book. Tom lives in Cornwall with an exponentially growing number of spider plants.