Customer Reviews

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Plunges into History

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I received the first Uncle John's Bathroom Reader as a gift nearly fifteen years ago, and I have enjoyed every one of its many successors. "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History" is the first of the readers to focus on a specific subject matter, but it is every bit as enjoyable as its more generic brethren.

Whether you read this book in the bathroom or in the living room, you'll really get a kick out of it. Each article is short, interesting and can generally be read in one sitting (so to speak). Although some of the material was new to me, the book seemed to have its facts straight about the stories with which I was familiar. Despite the witty and breezy style, the authors have usually done enough homework to master the basics. To top it off, the "factoids" on the bottom of each page are pretty interesting in their own right!

If you enjoy history lite--featuring short articles that can be read quickly in a series of short sittings--check out "The Bathroom Historian," my ongoing list of books in this genre. Happy reading!

Each selection is two to three pages, thus lends itself well to situations where you have less than ten minutes. Found myself reading these to my newborn to get her to go to sleep. Sure beats reading nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Half the time I find my wife listening in. The historical trivia are interesting and written in a humorous way that will keep you coming back for more.

I'm not, by nature, overly impressed with trivia books. I enjoy them at times, but I rarely consider them "page-turners", which is why they are often considered great choices for bathroom reading material. This collection is a welcome exception! History is a fascinating field, something more people need to realize but few can grasp after years of stale high school history lessons. This book has a lot of fascinating material in it, and offers the reader a wealth of hilarious and/or startling trivia. This book is well worth the cost!

I picked up this book about a month ago, and haven't been able to put it down since. I have learned more tidbits of trivia from this book than I did in High School. The articles are written in a way that makes history fun, and for many people, that's not easy! Being someone who enjoys history, this book is a real gem!

This book is an excellent piece of work from the Bathroom Readers' Institute, devoted entirely to history. Same style as regular Bathroom Reader books, with the same variety of topics as regular volumes, but all historic. If you like history, this is for you.

I love every single on of these books we purchase. They are perfect for fun light reading in the bathroom. I've bought 4 different books so far and I am planning on buying many more.

Uncle Johns's Bathroom Books are a delight! I received my first book several years ago at Christmas and have since purchased several. My bathroom would not be the same without one.

I have been getting these books for secveral years now and they are always entertaining and educational with both long and short stories designed for quick reading Hoghly recomended. You will not be disapointed

As a retired history teacher, I found the content of this book very interesting and informative. I wished I had a book like this one when I was teaching.It would have helped me give my students interesting stories that they would have enjoyed.

This book is part of a series of bathroom readers. The authors have written articles, one to four pages long, meant to be read in, uh, an appropriate length of time.

This book's articles concern history. Given the purpose of the book, you might expect low quality - - but I was consistently impressed. They got their history right, given the, uh, brief length of the articles. Of course they choose entertaining historical trivia such as Mad King Ludwig, sex scandals, disasters and mistakes, and other such things.

I don't normally give such things five stars but I can't imagine producing a better example of the genre. It fully succeeds at what it wants to do despite its rather, uh, constricted ambitions.