Deary uses the newspaper style to make the serious material more accessible so that the reader approaches the piece in " a more relaxed frame of mind than they would a school text " , as in an article about the Massacre at Lidice . Newspapers are also used to illustrate light-hearted stories , such as might appear in a tabloid . Newspaper extracts , along with letters and diaries , are used to tell stories from the perspectives of individual people , in order " to get away from the objective , and to get his readers to view history subjectively . " When writing about events and historical periods that are still in living memory , such as the Second World War , the series aims to maintain sensitivity . Deary argues that a story about a Tudor executioner who needs ten hacks to chop off someone 's head , for example , can , however , afford to be comical as contemporary society is so far removed from the event . Deary believes it is important for children to know about recent events , such as The Holocaust , not relegating them as taboo subjects that can not be discussed . When informed by a Jewish mother that her Rabbi told her not to introduce her children to the Holocaust before 13 years old , and that her 6-year-old had read it in '' Horrible Histories , '' Deary replied : " Sorry , but what am I supposed to do – lie to children ? " . He has commented that the books do have borders they will not cross . They would not , for example , describe violence against babies , such as the Vikings inflicted , and aside from some snogging , the series does not venture into the realms of sex
The Holocaust
The Holocaust
Horrible Histories (book series)