Philomena Cunk writes her second book

'An illustrated history of all world events ever, space permitting'

Philomena Cunk is to release her second book this autumn.

The World According To Cunk offers a ‘definitive, easy-clean history of all world history so far’ written by a woman publishers describe as the 21st Century's leading historian, philosopher and thinkerer.

It will come out in October, expected to be about the same time as Diane Morgan reprises the dimwitted alter-ego for a new BBC Two special, Cunk's Quest For Meaning. She will also record an audiobook version of this new title, which is subtitled 'an illustrated history of all world events ever, space permitting'.

The character says: ‘The World According To Cunk is the definitive history of the world. There will never need be another history book. Unless something major happens. Even then they'll probably just put something up on TikTok about it.’

Blurb for the book promises ‘Romans! Madrigals! The Dark Ages! Revolutions! Trumpets! The Oranges of The First World War!’ – but Cunk adds: ‘A word of warning: please don't buy it if you're expecting anything about trumpets in it. You will only be disappointed’

The promotional materials also promises that The World According To Cunk will cover the ‘inventions, art and brainboxes that made the modern world the unbearable place it is today’ and be ‘more captivating than Andrew Marr's History Of The World, less unpickupable than Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens, and noticeably less in ancient Greek than Herodotus' Histories.

Comedy writer Ben Caudell – Morgan’s real-life partner – is credited as the book’s author alongside the fictional Cunk.

Published by John Murray, it is available to order now from Amazon, priced £15.63 in hardback, £9.99 on Kindle or £7.99 as an audiobook – or from uk.bookshop.org, below, which supports independent bookstores.

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Published: 15 Jul 2024