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fun way to look at the history of the world Nov 01, 2009
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 Recession. With twelve chapters divided by eras, an appendix on Oh Canada and of course that Great Bush Recession, readers get a taste of chicken beer historical trivia. The reference tome includes chronological and locality asides, but mostly focuses on the who's who of the past and who they are doing it to; and not just Europe and North America; as Chapter 4 aptly represents the book with its "There's No Place Like Rome (Except China, Persia India, Mexico and Peru). Amusing and hip even when discussing pestilence, disease and war like how the great plague limited the great Justinian or that six battles on the western front in WW I resulted in at least 250,000 dead or there is a bit of land beyond the Hudson. Whether it is invoking divine approval by Sumerians, Persians, or Americans, this is an engaging look at the world's historical foibles even during critical pivotal points missed by that much by the Third Estate (some things remain the same whether the coverage is the French Revolution, Imperialism in Africa or The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars). The Mental Floss History of the World provides as Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story". Did Abraham really give up that beach front property to his nephew?
Harriet Klausner
 great book Oct 18, 2009
This was a very good book. Just enough information for each era. Written in a fun enjoyable manner.
Worst of the Best Oct 12, 2009
I absolutely love Mental Floss, but this book is my least favorite of all the things they have done. Their habit of listing tons of quirky facts and jumping from one topic to the next has been replaced here with a more even flow, which doesn't suit them as well and leaves my ADD-addled brain craving more and less somehow, simultaneously. Their attempt to give a general overview of all of history in 400 pages causes them to constantly summarize and not include so many of those fun, minute trivia tidbits I was looking for. That said, it's still a pretty good read.
The Past As You Think You Know It Is History Jun 25, 2009
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. This book at least fills in some of those gaps.
While quite hilarious, it is still historically accurate. Overall, everyone knows what occurred -- bacteria, cavemen, dinosaurs, pyramids, Puritans. But there are a lot of little-known stories and interesting facts about the world and the civilizations that came before us. Things we never got the opportunity to hear about in school. It's funny, amazing, shocking and silly... but always quite interesting.
History is a hard sell to most people. But as an individual with an average education and an above-average curiosity, I found it thoroughly enjoying. (I would also highly recommend "An Underground Education: The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of Human Knowledge" by Richard Zacks) It's not exactly the history of the world as the title suggests; just some of the amusing and strange going-ons we never learned in school because we were too busy memorizing names and dates.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Typical fun and witty book from Mental Floss but a bit dull at times Mar 02, 2009
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. This book certainly follows the MF format of giving you a lot of information in a format that is both lively and educational. I think it does a great job of giving the over view of world history and going into details when necessary. Special kudos for focusing outside of Europe and not going crazy over the usual blank spots one often finds in other histories.
Still, the book does skimp a bit on details and I would like to see it offer more detail on some human achievements and also some down spots. We don't see much cultural mentions nor do we see much by way of technological context provided. That would make this a much better work in my opinion. Next time don't skimp so much guys!
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