Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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!

The content of this book is amazing, but most impresssive is the manner in which is laid out. In the various sections you get subheadings with the background, the information and the follow up where deemed appropriate. It is ideal for anybody who has an interest in general knowledge or just enjoys finding out more about specific topics. As with most books of it's type you can put it down and return back to it and immediately be engrossed in the content. Great information on wierd and strange happenings also. Highly recommended

This book had been so hard to put down, my sight literally get fuzzy from the non stop reading . I love all the facts this book has in it.
I have all the books by David Wallechinksy. My husband and I used to take turns reading excerpts to each other.

I was so excited when I saw another book of facts, I am 100% satisfied with my purchase. Looking forward to more books like this one.

As a kid growing up in the late 70's I enjoyed reading the "People's Almanac" series. These books not only helped to build my love of reading but they also solidified my young identity as a "seeker of knowledge." So it was obviously a pleasure to come across this more recent edition with it's focus on the 20th century.

The subjects covered include crime, religion, war, natural disasters animals and movies. Of course, not every topic will be of interest to every reader. But, at over 900 pages, there is certainly more than enough here that any reader with a reasonable degree of intellectual curiosity will get their money's worth.