A Million Years in a Day cover art

A Million Years in a Day

A Curious History of Everyday Life

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

A Million Years in a Day

By: Greg Jenner
Narrated by: Greg Jenner
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

'A wonderful idea, gloriously put into practice. Greg Jenner as is witty as he is knowledgeable.' (Tom Holland)

'Delightful, surprising and hilarious, this is a fascinating history of the everyday objects and inventions we take for granted.' (Lauren Laverne)

Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history, Greg Jenner explores the hidden stories behind these daily routines.

This is not a story of politics, wars or great events, instead Greg Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising and sometimes downright silly nuggets from our past.

Written and narrated in a chatty style by Greg Jenner, Historical Consultant to CBBC's multi-award-winning Horrible Histories, it is an entertaining history of all those things you always wondered - and many you have never considered. It is the story of our lives, one million years in the making.

©2015 Greg Jenner (P)2015 Orion Publishing Group Civilization World Funny Witty War

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Ask a Historian cover art
Mortal Monarchs cover art
Past Forward: A Century of Sound cover art
222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions cover art
Saint-Germain-des-Pres: Paris's Rebel Quarter cover art
A Load of Old Balls cover art
Vital Organs cover art
Daddy Day Care cover art
The Land Before Avocado cover art
In Xanadu cover art
The Diary of Two Nobodies cover art
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England cover art
Surviving Ireland cover art
Restoration London cover art

Editor reviews

Intriguing and amusing, Greg Jenner’s A Million Years in a Day: A Curious History of Everyday Life is the perfect explanation for every task and every item the average human uses on an ordinary day. In this historical audiobook edition narrated by Jenner himself, listeners learn of the history and logic behind so many of those items often taken for granted in their ability to help make life easier. As Jenner divulges the secrets behind human behaviour in this book, listeners begin to understand just how much more intelligent the human race is than already assumed. Available now from Audible.
All stars
Most relevant
Thanks to QI and Horrible Histories my interest in history has been rekindled.
Greg being a historical consultant for Horrible Histories this was the perfect opportunity for me to download, listen and consume history in a funny and accessible way.
Greg takes us on a tour of how in one day of our lives, different societies have contributed to how modern life has been shaped.
Congratulations to Greg who makes this an enjoyable experience.
It was all fascinating, funny and sometimes bizarre.

Humour and history, what's not to like?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is an interesting and enjoyable work. Some of the quips and jokes are annoying but the book is well worth a visit

fascinating but some of the jokes grate a bit

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Filled with factoids about everyday things the book can be a bit over whelming and may need a re-listen. Apart from that small gripe it’s well read and brilliant!

Full on

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed listening to this book. It is full of facts presented in a fascinating story from the beginning to the end of a modern day. Love Greg’s voice reading it too - like a giant episode of his podcast.

Well structured and thoroughly enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The content of this book should speak wonderfully for itself... but it doesn't get a chance, because Greg Jenner wants you to think he's funny; at least, that is how this audiobook comes across.

Jenner constantly uses colloquialisms and vulgarity to try and achieve humour (thus reach?). Unfortunately, this results in a very forced and condescending delivery, which was irritating, and immensely distracting from the often interesting factual content.

A hard, hard book to get through.

Interesting History, Annoying Delivery

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
interesting in parts although alot of it I'd heard before. if some of the language was changed would make an excellent kids/teenager book

interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An interesting idea, very well carried through from the historian of the BBC's Horrible Histories and You're Dead to Me. The main carp that may be made is that the witticisms and punning whimsy may get a bit forced at times, but overall it works fine, even for a scientist (ret) and a very amateur historian as myself. Well worth the effort.

An interesting idea, very well carried through

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Full of interesting facts weaved together in a compelling narrative and delivered with humorous confidence by the author.

Endlessly fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really love listening to Greg Jenner. His books never fail to amuse and inform. This book really taught me a lot about bathroom behaviour through the ages and dentistry. Fascinating facts and perfect puns punctuate this brilliant book.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was never taught history and it is only now I'm my late forties that I begin to see its wonders.
Because I have very little knowledge base I like a broad brush approach, and this seemed like a great premise personal enough to relate too but broad enough to get a bigger picture. This was one of the first audio books I listened to and I just found the style of the writing a bit annoying. I don't mind scatological or humorous but I don't need to be dug in the ribs. And I guess for me that was the problem I felt the author was trying too hard to say 'look this is funny' when I think you can make your own mind up and laugh if and when you want to. Nothing wrong with the content I just found the style got in the way.

Nothing wrong with the content I just found the style got in the way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews