Customer Reviews

The Pessimist's Guide to History 3e: An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem - from 14 Billion Years Ago to 2007

5 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Pessimist's Guide to History seeks to catalogue the worst disasters from history, and in the main it achieves this goal. The reader can learn about countless incidents that have occurred which really do add to the adage that "life isn't fair", as well as gather some ideas about places more susceptible to disasters than others. In Europe, Italy seems most affected by earthquakes and volcanoes, with Turkey also falling prey to the earthquake menace. Elsewhere around the world, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are subject to major earthquakes, as is China (also the scene of calamatious flooding and ensuing famines), Bangladesh has been home to many of the worst cyclones, and Peru is another place to avoid if you don't like earthquakes.

Despite achieving its aims of cataloguing disasters, there are two things that stand out negatively for this book. The first is the silly comments that follow many of the descriptions of a disaster, which do little to add anything of interest to preceding text. For example, for an entry regarding the eruption of Taal in the Philippines in 1591, we are met with "Mother Nature burps again". A second example relates to the 1864 Calcutta Cyclone - "Another washout in India". These comments are unfortunate, as they are ultimately pointless and distract from, and sometimes cheapen, the tale they relate to.

The second negative mark against this book is the poor job at proof-reading that would seem to have occurred. Given that the book is in its third updated edition, this really is inexcusable. Several noticeable examples include "An A-4E Skyraider fighter plane preparing for lunch", "the fire probably burned from within their suits as well as without", "one of the worst disasters of modem times", "plans were made to demolish the bridge and replace it by a four-story structure" and "Almost all victims who remained inside where consumed in the flames of asphyxiated by the smoke".

If these marks against do not grate too much, this is a very interesting book to read, easy to pick up and browse through for ten minutes or equally to sit down and plough through for an hour. Hopefully, the fourth edition, when updated and published, will at least correct the grammatical and spelling errors. In summary: Worth a read, but don't expect a masterpiece.

Well, this book is a good read, a great bathroom book. However, I find it suprising that, with so many obscure disasters described, it commits a BIG oversight, or omission; i.e., the 1975 sinking of The Edmund Fitzgerald in a storm on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. That event made national headlines. For days. All
over the world. Heck, there was even a song written/sung about it (Gordon Lightfoot)! Most Americans who were of age at the time remember both the event and the song. That an American author could omit that event is unfortunate. Unintentional, I assume.
I agree with the previous reviewer that the gratuitous, light-hearted comments made by the author at the end of many entries were sophmoric, and at times offensive, given the terrible events described.
Worth buying in used condition.

Flexner and Flexner obviously did some painstaking research to complete this book. (What I have found to be true in my own writing and others' writing is that thorough research makes the difference between adequate writing and outstanding writing). When you begin to read this book, it just seems like one damn disaster after another; then you start to see how history repeats itself, ie, Vlad Dracula and Adolph Hitler, both bloodthirsty tyrants who wanted to wipe out all real or perceived opposition at all costs. Then you get to the years in the book that passed since you were born, and you think, "How did I forget that?" The book puts a lot of things in perspective. It is generally ironic, with bits of wit and wry side notes that keep it moving at a good pace. The individual entries are generally short, so it makes good reading if you are taking the train or subway to work (or if you want to keep it in your bathroom). I would highly recommend this book to ANYONE.

Optimists have ruled the world in popularity since the first optimist made a comment about the beautiful weather, leaving the pessimists behind, ignored, and looked down upon; but now that's all going to change with the "freshly updated" Pessimist's Guide to History. For every happy comment, witty repartee, and overly-positive statement, pessimists will now have the fodder to fight back with this reference manual.

The book begins with the most catastrophic event in the history of the universe: the big bang which started all life and everything as we know it. Then a few entries are dedicated to mass extinctions, destructive meteors, volcanic eruptions, and massive climactic changes. With the advent of humanity beginning its slow but thorough conquest of the planet, authors Doris Flexner and Stuart Berg Flexner don't hold back in presenting every horrible, destructive, plague-ridden event throughout history. The entries vary in length from short quick events: "217 B.C.: One Hundred Cities Destroyed by Killer Quake. A deadly quake rocked much of North Africa in 217 B.C., demolishing one hundred cities and killing more than fifty thousand people"; to longer entries spanning a couple of pages as more setting, detail, and information is needed about specific horrific events like: "1812: Moscow Burns," and "1888-1891: Jack the Ripper Terrorizes Whitechapel," and "1902: Mount Pelée's Deadly Eruption.

The first third of the book covers the beginning of the universe up to the end of the nineteenth century. The rest of the book is dedicated to the last hundred-and-seven years bringing the book up to the present with the many terrible events of the last hundred years. Whether you want to read the book cover to cover, or simply flip through and reference different dates and times, different events, The Pessimist's Guide to History will have all the horrible and detailed answers you crave. At the end of the book there is even an extensive index of each event, categorized by the type. The adamant pessimist will never again be without a horrific comeback.

Originally written on May 10th 2008 ©Alex C. Telander.

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Not always accurate but usually entertaining. Nice snappy descriptions of terrible tragedies always improve my outlook when I think I'm having a bad day.

This book has been always been a hit with my students--I had an older copy and when I saw an updated copy I had to get it!! This has all the 'bad' news you could want--not only the very famous stuff, but the more obscure as well!!

This is an inclusive chronological compendium of disasters and other bad-news events throughout history. It makes somewhat interesting reading, most of the time. I would not use it as a reference, because the readings regarding each disaster are rather short. It is also not meant to be read cover to cover, but a book to be picked up and flipped through.

The authors disgust me. After the entry of a story, they will often insert a clever sentence or two to elicit a chuckle from the reader, but instead of coming across as witty, they come across as cold and insensitive toward the victims of some of the disasters. I find that the authors are trying to make money off a book of suffering and while they're at it, they rub salt into the wounds of the victims.

Their attempt at high-minded humor in the face of calamity comes across as two pedant academics who are stuck in their ivory towers - far removed from the world of which they write about. Their book makes me sick, but I did learn about some little-known events.