The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp through Civilization's Best Bits (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Steve Wiegand (Author), Editors Of Mental Floss (Author)
Key Phrases: estimated native population, History of the World, United States, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

History is . . .
(a) more or less bunk.
(b) a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken.
(c) as thoroughly infected with lies as a street whore with syphilis.

Match your answers:
(1) Stephen Daedalus of James Joyce's Ulysses
(2) Henry Ford
(3) Arthur Schopenhauer

It turns out that answer need not be bunk, nightmarish, or diseased. In the hands of mental_floss, history's most interesting bits have been handpicked and roasted to perfection. Packed with little-known stories and outrageous—but accurate—facts, you'll laugh yourself smarter on this joyride through 60,000 years of human civilization. Remember: just because it's true, doesn't mean it's boring!

Exclusive: Amazonian Tips for Amazon.com

When you think of the word “Amazon,” we’re sure the first thing that comes to mind is the fantastic website where you can buy our book (buy our book!) or half-naked warrior women. But here are three tantalizing tidbits you might not know--and why you need to act now.

1. Find Gold
There’s something about long, tropical rivers that seems to drive people batty. But the Basque conquistador Lope de Aguirre was by all accounts a murderous sociopath long before he got to the Amazon. Take, for instance, the time a judge sentenced Aguirre to be flogged. The brutish Basque hunted the terrified magistrate across 4,000 miles of rough South American terrain, barefoot, to kill him! So, in 1560, it probably wasn’t the best idea to invite Aguirre along on the quest to find El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. After 900 miles of unbroken rain forest, Aguirre was fed up. He led a mutiny that killed more than half of his fellow conquistadors. Then, he declared himself prince of Peru, Tierra Firma, and Chile. Eventually he and his tiny army attacked Panama…where he was killed and dismembered so his body parts could be paraded around the colony.
The bright side: El Dorado is still out there, waiting for you to discover it! Just don’t bring a friend like Lope.

2. Invest a Dollar
When it’s not making people crazy, the Amazon seems to inspire bizarre, larger-than-life schemes. In 1967, American shipping magnate and billionaire Daniel Ludwig bought a larger-than-Connecticut sized chunk of the Amazon to create a gigantic industrial and agricultural complex called the Jari Project. It didn’t work out. All the construction led to massive soil erosion, screwing up the “agricultural” part of his plan. After sinking $1 billion into the project (back when $1 billion really meant something) Ludwig called it quits in 1982. It was eventually put up for sale for $1--a great deal, if you’re willing to assume $354 million in debt.
The bright side: For anyone with a dollar and a dream, it’s your lucky day: the Jari Project is still for sale!

3. Make New Friends
The pictures of spear-wielding tribesmen produced in May 2008 may have been a hoax, but it’s true that there are literally dozens of so-called “uncontacted” native tribes in the Amazon basin--Stone Age peoples who have never had any contact with the outside world! While this seems preposterous, it makes sense when you consider the Basin’s size, over 2.7 million square miles in area, half of which is covered by dense rain forest and divided by 15,000 rivers and tributaries. Altogether, there are believed to be about three dozen uncontacted tribes in Brazil and 15 in Peru.
The bright side: If you’re up for the adventure, you have more than 50 chances to claim fame and fortune. Just make sure you don’t accidentally give everyone smallpox.

… And so much more!
What you’ve just read isn’t available in our book, but don’t worry--roughly 82% of the rest of history is. Our twelve essential chapters tackle everything from civilization’s baby steps in the Fertile Crescent to the Pope’s first text message, the 6,000-pound super-wombats of early Australia to the Goose Crusade of 1096, the golden hemorrhoids of the Philistines to the most important assassinations of the 20th century, and everything else that’s wacky, entertaining, and completely, unbelievably true.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Sass and Wiegand do an admirable job of covering 60,000 years of human history in one volume. Along with the names of people and places, the dates and statistics, the wars, disasters, revelations, and accomplishments, there are fascinating stories, hilarious oddities, and plenty of fun. Nearly every page has a sidebar entry or two that fit well with the general narrative and also provide a chuckle or a Wow, I didnt know that! reaction. In 12 chapters with titles such as Athens, Alexander, and All That and The Not-Really-That-Dark (Unless You Lived in Europe) Ages, the authors cover our collective story from the earliest Homo sapiens on the grasslands of Africa to the current debate on global warming. Each chapter begins with a helpful In a Nutshell summary and a chronology of major events and ends with a well-selected list of comparative statistics. While some may bemoan the lack of bibliographic references and other academic fixtures, others will cheer this clever packaging of a wealth of information.–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Harper (October 28, 2008) Language: English ISBN-10: 0060784776 ISBN-13: 978-0060784775 Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
estimated native population

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
History of the World, United States, World War, Soviet Union, Middle East, New York, Roman Empire, Sea Peoples, New World, Byzantine Empire, Middle Ages, Qin Shi Huang, Stone Age, Catholic Church, South Africa, United Nations, Great Britain, North America, Central Asia, North Africa, Holy Land, Asia Minor, Native Americans, Eastern Europe, National Assembly

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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	85% buy the item featured on this page: The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp through Civilization's Best Bits 4.1 out of 5 stars (71) $17.24
	5% buy Mental Floss Presents Condensed Knowledge: A Deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again 4.2 out of 5 stars (45) $10.17
	3% buy mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits 4.6 out of 5 stars (14) $11.66
	2% buy Mental Floss presents In the Beginning: From Big Hair to the Big Bang, mental_floss presents a Mouthwatering Guide to the Origins of Everything 4.7 out of 5 stars (3) $12.44

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Customer Reviews

71 Reviews 5 star:  (29) 4 star:  (26) 3 star:  (12) 2 star:  (4) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.1 out of 5 stars (71 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Blast from the Past, October 24, 2008 By  Karen S. Garvin (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (What's this?) As a fan of Mental Floss magazine, I hoped their book would bring some of the irreverent humor that the magazine is known for to the pages of history. I am not disappointed. The history of the world is a very wide subject to try and cover in one book, but the authors do a nice job in breaking the topic down into manageable chapters. Chapters include some prehistory subject matter, ranging from the time our ancestors stood up to the time they started building cities and planting cereal crops. While written from an American perspective, the authors have tried to include South America, Africa, Australia, and China and the far east into the chapters to give the reader a good sense of what was going on in the world during a specific timeframe. The text is fairly dense (there's a lot to read!) but it's sprinkled with shaded boxes with quotes and other related tidbits of information. One hilarious quote from King George III's diary reads "Nothing important happened today." Yeah, right. Each chapter opens with "In a Nutshell," an overview of the era, and ends with a "By the Numbers" summary of factoids for history buffs. The book doesn't have to be read sequentially, so you can jump right into the Middle Ages or whatever time frame you are interested in. The book is aimed at adults but should be suitable for teens and pre-teens. 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Please, sir, may I have some more?, November 2, 2008 By  D. Joubert (Tennessee Valley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (What's this?) 'The Mental Floss History of the World' is aptly subtitled "An Irreverent romp through civilization's best bits." For a paperback book of almost 400 pages, it necessarily is quite selective as to what is included and the degree of detail pursued. However, it seems accurate in its facts, does have a particular axe to grind to any degree, and tries to be a true history of the world: not another European- or American-centered history which masquerades as a world history book. The Olmecs, the Chinese, the Hindus, and other peoples are woven into the story of the world. From my perspective, this latter point makes it a corrective to the often inadequate coverage of the historical developments in East Asia, Africa, and South America in the histories that I had been exposed to during my education.. Obviously, this was not intended as a textbook, but simply an interesting and readable compilation of major historical developments that an intelligent reader might enjoy if that person is able to reconcile wry humor and history. In offering this little book, the publishers of Mental Floss continue the pattern set in their magazine. The reader is able to find out the facts about vomitoriums, the origins of cold cream, when tamales emerged, and who were the first opium runners (the English!). This little history is light reading; but strongly recommended for people who can look on the lighter side of things. Solemn folks who shudder at the poppies of humor emerging in the landscape of the heath of seriousness should look elsewhere. For example, the plural of Ottoman is 'Ottomans', not 'Ottomen,' chastity belts were nonexistent at the time of the Crusades, and peasants are described as "serfs without turf." It's things like this in this book that leave me wanting to say, like Oliver Twist, "Please, Sir. May I have more?" I am a little skeptical, however, about the possible linkage of the sixteenth century Mongol prince Barbar to Barbar the elephant of the children's books by Jean De Brunhoff. 14 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars anothe gem from mental_floss, October 23, 2008 By  the kove (chicago, il) - See all my reviews Yet another wonderful product from mental_floss. Admittedly, I've enjoyed the mental_floss brand for some time now. This book gives me no reason to think otherwise, as it packages lots of nifty facts into a quirky, fun, readable format. I can even get my kids to enjoy parts of it. As with the other products, what separates mental_floss from other educational mediums is its ability to make learning fun. If you're anything like me and you're a little too busy to read something from beginning to end in one sitting, this makes a nice compromise. Actually, I flew threw a lot of it after a few train-rides into work, and now I'm only hoping to find another book to keep me occupied for the next few train rides.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars fun way to look at the history of the world This is a fun way to look at the history of the world (in 400 pages) as the mental Floss crowd provides their irreverent glimpse back in time and for a few pages the Great Bush... Read more Published 14 days ago by Harriet Klausner 5.0 out of 5 stars great book This was a very good book. Just enough information for each era. Written in a fun enjoyable manner. Published 28 days ago by Michael J. Hudson 4.0 out of 5 stars Worst of the Best I absolutely love Mental Floss, but this book is my least favorite of all the things they have done. Read more Published 1 month ago by Greta A. Heissenberger 4.0 out of 5 stars The Past As You Think You Know It Is History Having grown up with a public school education, as an adult I was quite surprised to discover there is quite a lot more to history than I remember happening. Read more Published 4 months ago by M. Grant 3.0 out of 5 stars Typical fun and witty book from Mental Floss but a bit dull at times I have to admit to being a Mental Floss junkie. I subscribe to the magazine and think it is the most entertaining publication out there. Read more Published 8 months ago by R. C Sheehy 4.0 out of 5 stars Truly Civilization's Best Bits Very pleasant reading, The Mental Floss History of the World does exactly as it claims. It gives a brief history of the world, devoting particular attention to those events that... Read more Published 8 months ago by E. Schechter 5.0 out of 5 stars I wish this was my world history text book Funny interesting and never boring. Also compares what was going on in various sections of the world during the various periods. Read more Published 8 months ago by John A. Antonelli 4.0 out of 5 stars It's All Just a Little Bit of History Repeating That's actually the lyric of Shirley Bassey's hit comeback song with the Propellerheads, but it appears to work in this context as well. Read more Published 9 months ago by Ed Uyeshima 5.0 out of 5 stars Good history overview, spiced up with entertaining asides This book provides a good overview of world history. If you find yourself feeling that your knowledge of world history from school is insufficient, this book would be a good one... Read more Published 9 months ago by Math Student 3.0 out of 5 stars Typical Mental Floss All of the trivia is there, but crammed in a jumbled mess on every page. Hard to read as a page-by-page turn, you find yourself randomly flipping the book open to read a portion... Read more Published 9 months ago by Scott Thiel Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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This product's forum Discussion Replies Latest Post Eric Sass and Mental Floss: Obsessed with demonizing Israel? 3 January 2009 What is the most interesting history of the world? 1 November 2008 how does this one compare? 1 October 2008 board game 1 October 2008 You show me yours, I'll show you mine. 0 October 2008 Love the Special Subscription Offer!! 0 October 2008 › See all 10 discussions...   [Start the discussion] Start a new discussion Topic: First post: Receive e-mail when new posts are made Prompts for sign-in   Guidelines Active discussions in related forums Discussion Replies Latest Post history Most important drug user? Why? 9368 3 minutes ago history Holocaust Denial Dissected 3782 9 minutes ago history Why does Holocaust Fabrication Exist? 262 24 minutes ago humor humoristianity 121 1 day ago humor My new book (which, by the way, is hilarious) 26 3 days ago trivia the 10: 2010 calendar 0 11 days ago Search Customer Discussions Only search this product's forum

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harper (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060784776
• ISBN-13: 978-0060784775
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Blast from the Past, October 24, 2008

By	Karen S. Garvin (Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

As a fan of Mental Floss magazine, I hoped their book would bring some of the irreverent humor that the magazine is known for to the pages of history. I am not disappointed. The history of the world is a very wide subject to try and cover in one book, but the authors do a nice job in breaking the topic down into manageable chapters.

Chapters include some prehistory subject matter, ranging from the time our ancestors stood up to the time they started building cities and planting cereal crops. While written from an American perspective, the authors have tried to include South America, Africa, Australia, and China and the far east into the chapters to give the reader a good sense of what was going on in the world during a specific timeframe.

The text is fairly dense (there's a lot to read!) but it's sprinkled with shaded boxes with quotes and other related tidbits of information. One hilarious quote from King George III's diary reads "Nothing important happened today." Yeah, right.

Each chapter opens with "In a Nutshell," an overview of the era, and ends with a "By the Numbers" summary of factoids for history buffs. The book doesn't have to be read sequentially, so you can jump right into the Middle Ages or whatever time frame you are interested in. The book is aimed at adults but should be suitable for teens and pre-teens.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please, sir, may I have some more?, November 2, 2008

By	D. Joubert (Tennessee Valley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

'The Mental Floss History of the World' is aptly subtitled "An Irreverent romp through civilization's best bits." For a paperback book of almost 400 pages, it necessarily is quite selective as to what is included and the degree of detail pursued. However, it seems accurate in its facts, does have a particular axe to grind to any degree, and tries to be a true history of the world: not another European- or American-centered history which masquerades as a world history book. The Olmecs, the Chinese, the Hindus, and other peoples are woven into the story of the world. From my perspective, this latter point makes it a corrective to the often inadequate coverage of the historical developments in East Asia, Africa, and South America in the histories that I had been exposed to during my education..
Obviously, this was not intended as a textbook, but simply an interesting and readable compilation of major historical developments that an intelligent reader might enjoy if that person is able to reconcile wry humor and history. In offering this little book, the publishers of Mental Floss continue the pattern set in their magazine. The reader is able to find out the facts about vomitoriums, the origins of cold cream, when tamales emerged, and who were the first opium runners (the English!).
This little history is light reading; but strongly recommended for people who can look on the lighter side of things. Solemn folks who shudder at the poppies of humor emerging in the landscape of the heath of seriousness should look elsewhere. For example, the plural of Ottoman is 'Ottomans', not 'Ottomen,' chastity belts were nonexistent at the time of the Crusades, and peasants are described as "serfs without turf." It's things like this in this book that leave me wanting to say, like Oliver Twist, "Please, Sir. May I have more?"
I am a little skeptical, however, about the possible linkage of the sixteenth century Mongol prince Barbar to Barbar the elephant of the children's books by Jean De Brunhoff.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars anothe gem from mental_floss, October 23, 2008

By	the kove (chicago, il) - See all my reviews

Yet another wonderful product from mental_floss. Admittedly, I've enjoyed the mental_floss brand for some time now. This book gives me no reason to think otherwise, as it packages lots of nifty facts into a quirky, fun, readable format. I can even get my kids to enjoy parts of it. As with the other products, what separates mental_floss from other educational mediums is its ability to make learning fun.

If you're anything like me and you're a little too busy to read something from beginning to end in one sitting, this makes a nice compromise. Actually, I flew threw a lot of it after a few train-rides into work, and now I'm only hoping to find another book to keep me occupied for the next few train rides.