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An Underground Education: The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew out Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of HumanPaperback– April 20, 1999
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Fascinating & sometimes deeply weird true stories!
Just a small taste of the intellectual smorgasbord contained in this volume.
Did you know:
that in the original story of Goldilocks the bears torture and kill their impolite visitor? that Pope Leo XIII appeared in an advertisement for cocaine-laced wine in the 1880s? that people didn't eat with forks until the 1700s? that Sir Isaac Newton's famous humble-pie quote "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" was actually written to a dwarf scientist named Robert Hooke and clearly meant as an insult? that Thomas Edison secretly helped develop the electric chair in a scheme to have the lethal machine named after his arch-rival, George Westinghouse? that the first pediatric guide written in the United States recommended that expectant mothers breastfeed puppies? that for two centuries French scientists obsessively experimented on freshly decapitated heads in an effort to discover whether the bodiless brain still functioned? that Cleopatra was ugly as sin?
Okay, so maybe you know all the stuff you're supposed to know--that there are teenier things than atoms, that Remembrance of Things Past has something to do with a perfumed cookie, that the Monroe Doctrine means we get to take over small South American countries when we feel like it. But really, is this kind of knowledge going to make you the hit of the cocktail party, or the loser spending forty-five minutes examining the host's bookshelves?
Wouldn't you rather learn things like how the invention of the bicycle affected the evolution of underwear? Or that the 1949 Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to a doctor who performed lobotomies with a household ice pick? Or how Catherine the Great really died? Or that heroin was sold over the counter not too long ago?
For the truly well-rounded "intellectual," nothing fascinates so much as the subversive, the contrar
I had hoped for more intriguing views or insights. Instead, I read alot of stories with a focus it seems on sex, almost pornoghaphy, religion. Most of these stories, for those that are interested in history, you already know, so if you are into history from the un reported viewpoint this book is no eye opener and kind of slow. If you are a first timer to history from this perspective then it is a good read, but be prepared to be bored by re-treading sex stories and scandals, religious oddities. Bottom line, should have been printed in bullet form, would make a better collection of short stories on historical myths.
Real history presented in bite-sized gems. All the fun that mainstream history conveniently ignores. People have had to deal with the same things (sex, death, bad medicine, political corruption, etc etc.) regardless of time and place. And a great bibliography provides a source of even more fun.
I stumbled on this book looking for something else. Never heard of it before, but after reading reviews about it I decided I had to have it. I couldn't find it in the local library to check out to see if I wanted it. So I just poked around til I found a good deal and bought the hardbound addition straight out. The reviews on here and on google fairly well discribed it. I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED. It is a collectors item.
I enjoyed this entertaining book. This book is not a deep educational study of history, but a book filled with interesting bits of historical information, OR funny facts & trivia!
Some facts will make you laugh, and others will puzzle you. Nothing wrong with that. When I got this book I was looking for a "light reading" book to read on a plane trip. After the trip, I lent the book to a friend and my friend enjoyed it too.... (Therefore, we both give it 5-stars).
I got this book as a college graduation present and absolutely could not put it down. It is a wonderful look at some obscure and misinterpreted historical information and for the most part, Zacks is careful not to state anything as absolute fact without well-documented proof. I am currently reading "History Laid Bare," also by Zacks and also a fantastic read, but I prefer "An Underground Education" because of the writing style (History Laid Bare is mostly quotes) and wider variety of topics.
Very cool book! I love this book. Twisted and odd and I love it! So much obscure and interesting information. I have given this book to several people and they all love it as well!
Was recommended this book by a friend. I bought it for the chapter on the Grimm's Fairy Tales, but it's so much more. The title is the perfect description for this book, it's the best companion to anyone's education. Some stuff I already knew, but for the most part I couldn't put this book down. It's both educational and funny, and stays interesting. My copy is currently circulating through my circle of friends, great book to keep on your shelf too, company's always picking it up and flipping through it. I recommend this book to everyone!
I had this book many, many years ago. Lent it to a friend and forgot to get it back. I really wanted to re-read - such fun and great stories! This purchase was definitely worth the price. Condition was excellent!!! Very pleased with shipment speed, condition and price. I would purchase again.
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