Publishing deal for comedian Paul Coulter

Comedian Paul Coulter’s Edinburgh Fringe show 5 Mistakes That Changed History is to be turned into a book.

Transworld will publish the title, now expanded into ten ‘of the greatest blunders, gambles and poor decisions that have determined the course of human history, in June.

And it will coincide with the first live tour of Coulter’s show, as well as a return to Edinburgh next August.

Coulter – a British comic and historian based in Sydney – told trade website The Bookseller: ‘It has been incredibly fun to write a book filled with poor decisions, blunders and stuff-ups by some of history’s most fascinating characters. 

‘A huge thank you to Transworld for giving me the opportunity to focus on other people’s mistakes and not my own. I’m excited to take my comedic pop-culture lens on history from stage to page. We all make mistakes, but writing this book was certainly not one of them.’

Publisher Henry Vines added: ‘Paul has a real talent for bringing history to life in the most entertaining way. His shows are wonderfully funny, packed full of outrageous stories and surprising twists that make it easy to forget you are learning something along the way. 

‘I am very happy that Paul is channelling his considerable talents into a book, filled with stories he has never told on stage. We can’t wait to introduce his refreshing take on history to readers next year.’

It follows in the footsteps of other pop history books such as  52 Times Britain Was A Bellend by James Felton and spin-off titles from The Rest Is History podcast.

 10 Mistakes That Changed History is available to order from Amazon, priced £20.

Published: 6 Dec 2024