An Illustrated History of Urban Legends
Another instalment in the author’s Illustrated History series, this wide-ranging introduction to urban legends will be enjoyed by both young readers and adults. After first explaining what urban legends are and how they spread, the book then covers a wide range of tall tales, beginning in the 6th century with the first report of the Loch Ness monster, and extending all the way to the present day when urban legends are spread via social media and video games.
A beautifully illustrated book that is jam-packed with information about legendary creatures, unexplained disappearances, UFO’s, phantom places, and much more. The narrative takes a broadly chronological approach, but is interspersed with very attractive double-page spreads such as galleries of cryptids, objects associated with legends, or legendary rogues. The variety in page layout and the distinctive colour palette keep the reader’s attention but also make it an ideal book to dip in and out of if you only have a couple of minutes’ reading time.
There is so much in the book that each legend only gets a very short description. But for those who are curious to find out more, plenty of suggestions for further reading and viewing are provided at the end. There is also a clearly written and very helpful glossary. The book encourages readers to be sceptical and to question their sources of information, crucial skills for us all in these days of fake news and disinformation.
