People's Almanac Presents the Twentieth Century: History with the Boring Bits Left Out/Revised and Updated [Hardcover]

David Wallechinsky (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 944 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; Rev Upd Su edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879519444
• ISBN-13: 978-0879519445
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,046,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book that is like peanuts., December 1, 1999

By 

Alan Trei - See all my reviews

This review is from: People's Almanac Presents the Twentieth Century: History with the Boring Bits Left Out/Revised and Updated (Hardcover)

Read just one article! I dare you. Tale after tale about the marginal people and events of history. It sucks you on and on, page after page. Although I knew many of the stories, never in such detail, dispassionately told. I'm giving copies to my trivia friends for Christmas.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun--truly history with the boring parts left out, March 4, 2003

By 

John Grabowski (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: People's Almanac Presents the Twentieth Century: History with the Boring Bits Left Out/Revised and Updated (Hardcover)

Have you ever met somebody at a party who just seems to know all sorts of interesting stories and anecdotes? He's probably read this book. The publishers advertise this as "History with the dull parts left out," and that's exactly what it is. A compendium from three prior "People's Almanacs" published in the mid-70s, this book takes all the material that deals with the 20th century, in many cases updating it since the 1970s. Topics are both mainstream and offbeat: everything from infamous assassinations to famous people in literature, U.S. presidents to notorious kidnappings. The book is filled with off-beat quotes and surprising facts and figures--it's akin to a Ripley's Believe It Or Not combined with a world almanac, only better than both. And for the price, it's a steal. If you want a fun page turner that will also make you a little better-informed every time you read it, a light "popular" history of the 20th century that's most substantive than most other books of its type, this is for you. You might also want to look in used bookstores or online for the original Peoples Almanacs--dated, but still fascinating.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I've waited for!, June 6, 2003

By 

KDMask (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: People's Almanac Presents the Twentieth Century: History with the Boring Bits Left Out/Revised and Updated (Hardcover)

I am a "People's Almanac" "Book of Lists" junkie. I own them all. I swear if I took one item with me to a desert island, this would be it. Some people that have read these books cover to cover like I have, may notice some items are the same as in previous books. Who CARES?! This is the stuff of life. I just wish the book wasn't so dang heavy!