Customer Reviews

mental floss presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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I've been a mental_floss magazine subscriber from "the early days" and picked up "Condensed Knowledge" as well. So when I saw in a recent issue that a new book was coming, I knew I had to get it. I wasn't disappointed.

Where "Condensed Knowledge" added humor and interesting twists to what might otherwise have been mundane information, "Forbidden Knowledge" is perhaps even better because of the subject matter. There are seven chapters, one concerning each of the seven deadly sins. The material is (like the first book) both funny and informative, and the "evil" nature of the subject matter makes it all the more readable. Fortunately, even though the material is more "dark," it never gets mean-spirited or nasty.

Seems like most of the history/reference/nonfiction books I see today get a kick out of annihilating specific ideas, or persons, or companies. I'm glad "Forbidden Knowledge" covers the evil side of life without having to put a political or moral judgment on things. It's just plain facts, mixed with fun comments that makes it easier to absorb the material.

And with different writers throughout the book, the reading never gets boring. It's almost like an extended version of the magazine, which makes it well worth the price. It's great, though, that it's all-new material and not just reprints of stuff that already appeared in previous issues.

Bravo, mental_floss. Never change (unless you want to go monthly, that is). Here's my idea for a third book in the series: "Knowledge Flakes" -- with a cover like a cereal box, filled with stuff about some of the flakiest persons in history. You'd have no shortage of material there!

Mental_Floss Presents Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits. Wow, what a great book. This is a must have for history buffs (especially the ones who think they already know everything there is to know about history) and trivia mavens alike. Ever wondered which President was the laziest? Thought Madame Curie was as pure as the driven snow? Called Meat Loaf anything besides 'international superstar'? Forbidden Knowledge will take care of that for you. Never let anyone say "History isn't interesting!" Downside to this book: While some will be impressed with your knowledge of band frontmen who sold their souls to the devil and rulers who died of syphillis, some will find it just annoying. Don't let that keep you from reading it, just consider covering your mouth with duct tape for a few days afterwards.

I bought this book for something light and fun... My roomates spotted it on the coffee table and I've had to wait in line to read it. You will find yourself laughing out loud and feeling thankful that there are people who went down in history that are more vain, greedy, jealous, and lazy than you! Skim it over if you don't believe me, you won't put it down.

I am never disappointed by the work at mental_floss. I have been a long time subscriber of the magazine and have given the book Condensed Knowledge and the trivia board game as gifts. The most recent publication Forbidden Knowledge takes an unusual look at history using the seven deadly sins to organize a unique presentation of several of the least attractive historical (and some recent)characters and events. You will find yourself laughing at the manner in which the material is presented, yet learning as you go. For example in the Pride section you read "I Want to See My Face in It: 5 World Leaders Obsessed with Their Own Images and " A Big Tower? What and Eiffel Idea! 4 Structures Built as Symbols of National Pride. Within Envy "Mom Always Liked you Best: 6 Sets of Mismatched Siblings" and Greed brings us "To the Victors Go the Soils: History's 5 most blatant land grabs". In each of the sections there are 15- 20 of these fun lists and a brief reason why they are included.
Forbidden Knowledge is a book that you can read completely in 2-3 hours or have it available whenever you have 5 minutes and simply open to any page.

As a trivia buff, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves "useless" knowledge. The book is separated into the 7 deadly sins and gives historical examples past & present. Definately a great buy!!!

I love this type of book because I can pick it up, read it for 1 minute or 1 hour and put it back down again. Although I did notice one error (about Truman Capote), most of the facts are interesting and amusing. I recommend it.

If you love history, this book is for you. As the title suggests, it's full of history's naughtiest bits and the way everything is presented is incredibly entertaining. Each chapter covers a different sin from the 7 Deadly Sins - great stuff on Envy, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Pride and Greed. If my high school history teacher had taught all this stuff, I'm sure I'd have stayed awake and even enjoyed the class!

Sort of the untimate trivia book. Here is enough little tidbits of history to last any bathroom a long time. Broken down into the familar seven: Envy, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Pride and Greed -- yes, of course I turned to Lust first. Nothing as blatent as you can find on the web. But then again, you can find most anything on the web. There's this one site ...

Back to the book. It's clean, it's kind of sopomoric, it's maybe PG-13. It is kind of interesting to see that our ancesters were also people. After all, if they weren't interested in these things they wouldn't be ancestors, just people who lived back then.

The only thing is that your guests may stay in the bathroom a long time.

Interesting facts about people, whch you won't find in history books; remarkable facts about places, not to be found in geography books; and fascinating bits about people, never found on magazines.

The quirks and depths of human nature wittily classified under the umbrella of the seven 'mortal' sins. Everthing you always wanted to know, and then some.

I try to spend a lot of time learning as much as i can about anything, and the mental floss organization turned out to be the perfect solution to my desire. Their whole business is dedicated to teaching people unique facts about not so unique subjects. When you want to find descriptions of random topics, mental floss is their, and this book tells you all of the crazy, seemingly unknown facts about famous people and incidents in history. I highly recommend this and all of their publications!!