Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live [Paperback]

Ben Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 27, 2009

An unstoppable collection of the most hardcore figures who ever strapped on chain mail and ran screaming into battle

Throughout history—from the bone-crushing age of antiquity to the sack-tearing modern era—there have been larger-than-life ass-kickers with a natural talent for unleashing their epic bloodlust on anyone who crossed them. They built empires, smashed armies, and ravaged civilizations for wealth, glory, and ultimate supremacy. Sometimes villains, sometimes heroes, sometimes criminally insane, they had one thing in common: They were all . . . Badass!

Chandragupta Maurya
An Indian warlord who commanded an army of drunken war elephants and employed an elite detachment of highly trained female bodyguards

Peter Francisco
An unsung hero of the American Revolution, this powerful giant battled the British with a massive five-foot-long broadsword

Wolf the Quarrelsome
A mysterious barbarian leader who only appears in history twice—and both times he’s kicking someone’s ass

Bhanbhagta Gurung
A fearless Gurkha who won the Victoria Cross by clearing out six Japanese foxholes with nothing more than grenades, a bayonet, and a knife

From Alexander the Great to George S. Patton, from Genghis Khan to Bruce Lee, this pantheon of ass-kicking awesomeness should inspire you to quit your stupid job and dive headfirst into a new career as a professional badass.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ben Thompson has run the warhammer of a website badassoftheweek.com since 2004, and has written humorous history-related columns for outlets such as Cracked, Fangoria, Penthouse, and the American Mustache Institute. Even though he's never flown a jetpack over the Atlantic Ocean or punched someone so hard that his head exploded, he is considered by many to be the world's foremost expert on badassitude. His first book, Badass, was released in 2009.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061749443
• ISBN-13: 978-0061749445
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Reference & Collections

More About the Author

Ben Thompson is a full-time corporate wage slave who spends his spare time reading and writing about great heroes and villains from history. In 2002, he graduated cum laude with degress in History and Political Science from the Honors program at Florida State University, and has run the website badassoftheweek.com since April 2004. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife.

Stats:

Medium-sized Human Male, 29 years old
Level 7 College Administrator (Smart Hero Class)
Alignment: Lawful Good
Hit Points: 30
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft.
AC: 14
Attacks: Combat Martial Arts +4
Damage: 1d4+1 or by weapon
Saves: Fortitude +2, Reflex +3, Willpower +6
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 14

Skills: Climb +4, Computer Use +9, Craft (writing) +20, Diplomacy +8, Drive +5, Knowledge (history) +21, Knowledge (popular culture) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Navigate +8, Perform (drums) +7, Perform (guitar) +5, Profession (white collar) +12, Research +12, Search +10, Swim +6, Read/Write/Speak Language (Mandarin Chinese) +4

Feats: Athletic, Creative, Educated, Exploit Weakness, Plan, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Combat Martial Arts, Personal Firearms Proficiency

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Testosterone in paper form., November 19, 2009

By 

Richard D. Holschen "Richie Holschen" (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live (Paperback)

Warning: this book will suck the estrogen right out of you. I would say it was the chronicles of manliness but some of the people covered are women who are apparently more manly than I can ever hope to be. My pregnant wife read this book and the baby spontaneously turned from a girl to a boy. Just sayin'.

The writing style is humorous and light, but admittedly it sometimes borders on juvenile. There are obvious embellishments (I've never actually seen someone crushed under the weight of testicles, but there are things on earth I haven't seen). However, I give the writing style a thumbs up because the author presented a lot of good history in a form that would even keep the attention of a 13 year old boy.

The author does have an odd fetish with faces. He mentioned "face" 105 times in the book, mainly accompanying words like "crush", "stab", or "burn." Oorah!

59 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my life (for the better), October 29, 2009

By 

J. Hoch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live (Paperback)

Attention Universe: BADASS: A relentless onlaught of the toughest warlords, vikings, samurai, pirates, gunfighters and military commanders to ever live is the greatest work of literature in the history of the written word.

#1: BADASS is very, very good. So good, it is as though Odin himself reached into Valhalla, chose the 40 best heros of history and penned their history into this wonderfully illustrated tome.

#2: After I purchased BADASS, I opened the book to the Library of Congress page. I was immediately slapped in the face by the sheer awesomeness of it. I was transported through history and witnessed, FIRST HAND, the amazing exploits of the legendary historic characters. Once I regained consciousness I actually read it.

#3: This book is so funny that I laughed until my nose bled. I got blood on the pages of the book (it seemed appropriate), but the blood was absorbed by the pages. I think the book was feeding on it.

#4: The information in this book is all historically accurate. And I should know. I work at a university.

[...]

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome, November 15, 2009

By 

TaeKwonDodo (OR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live (Paperback)

I love this book and the website! It is a great mix of real life and screen/literary badasses, told in a very entertaining, lively fashion. The style is such that you actually feel like the author is sitting in the room with you, telling the story and acting it out at the same time. Some of the real life historical people he mentions are seriously badass, performing such incredible acts of crazy courage that it seems foolhardy, and only sheer luck allowed them to be remembered as heroes and not fools. The website is a must - lots more stories and some are expanded over the book (one personal fave - Voytek the soldier bear). Can't wait for a volume 2!