The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled [Hardcover]

Will Cuppy (Author), William Steig (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1992

Ever wonder what Nero did before he began fiddling about in Rome, or wanted the bare facts about Lady Godiva? Maybe you've found the story of Lucrezia Borgia a bitter pill to swallow, or wanted the straight skinny on corpulent King Henry the Eighth, but you haven't the stomach for stuffy history books. Now these and twenty-two more of history's most famous personages are brought brilliantly to life, in this collection of unfailingly accurate yet undeniably hilarious biographies. You'll laugh while you learn about the very real people behind the legendary names, including why Montezuma was so vengeful, and why Catherine was so Great. You'll even finally lay to rest the rumor that Charlemagne was called "Chuck" by his friends.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble (April 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 088029809X
• ISBN-13: 978-0880298094
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #479,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it, December 22, 2004

By 

Elly (Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled (Hardcover)

This book is so incredibly funny. It is about all sorts of historical figures. Cuppy is an amazing writer. He writes about all the things that they did and makes them seem rather dumb. To truely appreciate this book to it's full value there has to a understanding of what my friend and I call dry humor others might say sarcastic, blunt, intelligent. Whatever you call it, but if that is you and you don't have to love history but read this book it is wonderful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fond Memory Returned, April 6, 2006

By 

Cassandra "Cassie" (Midwest, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled (Hardcover)

My high school history teacher (who was no fool and knew his stuff better than some professors I met in college) gave me this book. His copy was the original thing-- almost falling apart from being loved by so many students. It managed to spark an interest in history in me, because quite frankly I have no patience for the "golden sheen" that so many people try to put on historical figures. Who on earth cares about someone who's so perfect you could never talk to them, anyway? Let's face it, the so-called "greats" were people with flaws and quirks just like we are! Bravo to Will Cuppy for having the guts and the skill to portray them in a way that makes us laugh and makes us question a little beyond the almost impenetrable veil of History.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical figures revisited, March 22, 2006

By 

Spencer Smith (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled (Hardcover)

Cuppy was an incredibly gifted humorist, and he brings his flare to history in this masterpiece. Before ever writing a line, he would exhaustively research every reference he could get his hands on, then condense all that information into short, pithy, incisive statements. The focus is on letting the reader get to know the major figures of world history as people, not historical constructs or animated statues as they often come across in the average history book. The result is a lot of fun information in a concise, ironic format (and be sure to read the footnotes too). Some brief excerpts from the chapter on Nero, for example:

"Nero was the son of Agrippina the Younger and Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, combining the worst features of each. His father was fond of running down little children with his chariot and gouging out people's eyes, and there were rumors I'd rather not mention. Agrippina was a sister of Caligula. You don't get over a thing like that...

"In some respects Nero was ahead of his time. He boiled his drinking water to remove the impurities and cooled it with unsanitary ice to put them back again. He renamed the month of April after himself, calling it Neroneus, but the idea never caught on because April is not Neroneus and there is no use pretending that it is. During his reign of fourteen years, the outlying provinces are said to have prospered. They were farther away."

This book was a serendipitous find years ago, and I reread it every now and then to keep it fresh in mind. Of Cuppy's handful of published works, this is the best.