Sunburn: The unofficial history of the Sun newspaper in 99 headlines

by James Felton

'An astonishing piece of work' James O'Brien
'This book was a delight. Funny, scathing and witty' Ian Dunt

You should buy this book if: a) you dislike the Sun, but have never actually read it to know why and/or b) you're still not sure how we got into this mess.

Using his famed on-the-nose commentary, Twitter legend James Felton has dissected 99 of the most outlandish stories the Sun (for a long time the biggest-selling British newspaper) has run since it became a tabloid in 1969, hoping to answer once and for all whether the press has reflected - or manipulated - the British people over the last 50 years.

Included: joke-riddled and illustrated analyses of the Sun's most infamous stories about celebrities, war, royals, crime, the LGBTQ+ community, migrants, the EU, politics, bacon sandwiches and page 3.

Not included: A blindfold. We suggest reading through your fingers instead.

'James Felton makes me laugh like a bellend' Robert Webb
'James Felton makes me laugh every day' Marina Hyde
'James never fails to make me laugh and then think, then laugh some more' Dermot O'Leary

• ISBN10: 0751580783
• ISBN13: 9780751580785
• Publish Date: 8 October 2020
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Sphere
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

As much as I wanted to love Sunburn: The Unofficial History of the Sun Newspaper in 99 Headlines, and at time I genuinely did, it was the kind of book that overstayed its welcome by the halfway mark.

I love James Felton as a comedian. He's witty, political, and irreverent. For the first quarter of the book or so I was absolutely engrossed and his comedic stylings translated well. He managed to insert humour into topics that would usually make me shake my head in disappointment and disbelief. But as the book went on, that humour started to feel a bit samey, and I found myself getting bored, which was a real shame.

Thankfully, the structure of Sunburn is such that you can read it in small sittings. It took me a month to finish reading it because it ended up being my waiting room read on my phone's Kindle app - I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and read the whole thing. It provided the perfect bite-sized distraction for when I didn't have the time to fully immerse myself in something.

Sunburn is interesting, surprisingly informative, and definitely not short on humour. It's a fun, easy read, but be prepared for the humour to wear thin after a while in long sittings.