The Pessimist's Guide to History 3e An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem--From 14 Billion Years Ago To 2007 |
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Author:
| Flexner, Doris Flexner, Stuart Berg |
ISBN: | 978-0-06-143101-2 |
Publication Date: | May 2008 |
Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers
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Book Format: | Paperback |
List Price: | AUD $28.99 |
Book Description:
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The classic irreverent look at the past-now updated with even more appalling facts!
Fourteen billion or so years ago, the Big Bang exploded-and it's been downhill from there. For every spectacular discovery throughout history, there have been hundreds of devastating epidemics; for every benevolent despot, a thousand like Vlad the Impaler; for every cup half-full, a larger cup half-empty. This enthralling, enlightening, and devilishly entertaining chronicle of disasters and...
More Description
The classic irreverent look at the past-now updated with even more appalling facts!
Fourteen billion or so years ago, the Big Bang exploded-and it's been downhill from there. For every spectacular discovery throughout history, there have been hundreds of devastating epidemics; for every benevolent despot, a thousand like Vlad the Impaler; for every cup half-full, a larger cup half-empty. This enthralling, enlightening, and devilishly entertaining chronicle of disasters and dastardly deeds brings to light the darkest events in history and the most abysmal calamities to strike the planet . . . so far.
88 BC: Mithridates VI Eupator provides an early example of genocide by massacring 100,000 Romans.
1347: Saint Vitus' Dance Epidemic shimmies across Europe like a deadly disco fever, leaving its victims twitching, uncontrollably leaping, and foaming at the mouth.
1888: Jack the Ripper stalks through the dark alleys of Whitechapel, England, turning the world's oldest profession into the world's most dangerous one.
1939: A Swiss chemist wins a Nobel Prize for developing DDT-and the environment gets another nail in the coffin.
2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast. In a classic double whammy, the government response also devastates the Gulf Coast.
And much, much more!