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Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live (Badass Series) Paperback – Illustrated, October 27, 2009
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The badasses populating the pages of Badass are the most savagely awesome historical figures to ever strap on a pair of chain mail gauntlets and run screaming into battle. Author Ben Thompson—considered by many to be the Internet’s foremost expert on badassitude—has gathered together a rogues’ gallery of butt-stomping rogues, from Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan to Blackbeard, George S. Patton, and Bruce Lee. Their bone-breaking exploits are illustrated by top artist from the fields of gaming, comics, and cards—DC Comics illustrator Matt Haley and Thomas Denmark, illustrator for the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. This is not your boring high school history—this is tough, manly, unrelentingly Badass!
- Print length334 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 27, 2009
- Dimensions9.02 x 6.3 x 0.74 inches
- ISBN-100061749443
- ISBN-13978-0061749445
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From the Back Cover
An unstoppable collection of the most hardcore figures who ever strapped on chain mail and ran screaming into battle
Throughout history—from the bone-crushing age of antiquity to the sack-tearing modern era—there have been larger-than-life ass-kickers with a natural talent for unleashing their epic bloodlust on anyone who crossed them. They built empires, smashed armies, and ravaged civilizations for wealth, glory, and ultimate supremacy. Sometimes villains, sometimes heroes, sometimes criminally insane, they had one thing in common: They were all . . . Badass!
Chandragupta Maurya
An Indian warlord who commanded an army of drunken war elephants and employed an elite detachment of highly trained female bodyguards
Peter Francisco
An unsung hero of the American Revolution, this powerful giant battled the British with a massive five-foot-long broadsword
Wolf the Quarrelsome
A mysterious barbarian leader who only appears in history twice—and both times he's kicking someone's ass
Bhanbhagta Gurung
A fearless Gurkha who won the Victoria Cross by clearing out six Japanese foxholes with nothing more than grenades, a bayonet, and a knife
From Alexander the Great to George S. Patton, from Genghis Khan to Bruce Lee, this pantheon of ass-kicking awesomeness should inspire you to quit your stupid job and dive headfirst into a new career as a professional badass.
About the Author
Ben Thompson has run the warhammer of a website badassoftheweek.com since 2004, and has written humorous history-related columns for outlets such as Cracked, Fangoria, Penthouse, and the American Mustache Institute. Even though he's never flown a jetpack over the Atlantic Ocean or punched someone so hard that his head exploded, he is considered by many to be the world's foremost expert on badassitude. He is the author of Badass and Badass: The Birth of a Legend.
Product details
- Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (October 27, 2009)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 334 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0061749443
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061749445
- Item Weight : 1.06 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.02 x 6.3 x 0.74 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #874,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #391 in Reference & Collections of Biographies
- #4,430 in Political Leader Biographies
- #6,917 in Fiction Satire
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Ben Thompson is the writer and creator of badassoftheweek.com and author of the books Badass Badass: Birth of a Legend, and Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch. He has written articles for Cracked, Fangoria, Penthouse, and The American Mustache Institute, was once selected "Seattle's Sexiest Dungeon Master" by a local newspaper, and can occasionally beat the Star Wars: The Original Trilogy arcade game with one quarter.
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Like I said, it's not definitive in a research of history like manner, thought most end of chapters have little bonus "bet you didn't know" snippets which is true, I most often didn't! Still, entertaining and quick reads make for the prefect Christmas present also as I know a guy who would find this book right up his alley!
Have Fun!
#1: BADASS is very, very good. So good, it is as though Odin himself reached into Valhalla, chose the 40 best heros of history and penned their history into this wonderfully illustrated tome.
#2: After I purchased BADASS, I opened the book to the Library of Congress page. I was immediately slapped in the face by the sheer awesomeness of it. I was transported through history and witnessed, FIRST HAND, the amazing exploits of the legendary historic characters. Once I regained consciousness I actually read it.
#3: This book is so funny that I laughed until my nose bled. I got blood on the pages of the book (it seemed appropriate), but the blood was absorbed by the pages. I think the book was feeding on it.
#4: The information in this book is all historically accurate. And I should know. I work at a university.
[...]
The book delivers, however I don't know wether that's a good thing or not. There are several chapters in the book with badasses who have been included in the webpage before(Agustina de Aragon) while no effort was made to rewrite the article, others (such as Musashi) have been included before but were rewitten for the book, while others where completely new(Napoleon). Overall a fun book, I read it nonstop for several days and couldn't stop laughing. I got a lot of stares on the bus, but the several people were interested in it and genuinley amused by the juvenile writing style and hilarious fascimiles.
A great book for a lighthearted reading and interestingly, could probably be used as a teaching tool. Because as we all know, we need more badass history.
The author, Ben Thompson, runs a site called [...]. He searches the history books for badasses. Not all of the badasses are men, nor are they all from the 20th century, which is refreshing. Thompson relates the stories with gusto, like a teenaged/college aged boy would describe a videogame boss fight to his friends--and this generates interest. The stories of these people maintain that interest. The humor seals the deal. There may be a bit of 'embellishment' in relating the stories, but this doesn't detract in the least. And each chapter is only at most five pages long--perfect for a short attention span or when you only have a minute here or there to read. So of course, I read the whole thing in a couple of hours, with a pause here and there.
This might be a good book for a person who doesn't read a lot to improve their reading skills with a high interest book. It would be perfect for a reader who has trouble with maintaining attention when reading. In short, this is a perfect book to encourage reading in older teenaged boys. The language is really the only thing I think that a parent might take issue with, but since the profanity is a part of the schtick and not specifically gratuitous, I wouldn't have a problem if my 15 year old decided to read it.
Top reviews from other countries
Some will no doubt find this work offensive. But the use of metaphore is dazzling, and though must darker and ruder in tone, reminds me a little of early PG Wodehouse in its originality.
Bottom line is that any 'bloke' will love this book, but don't bother sending it to your maiden aunt.







