The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

How can I describe this book? Looking at the cover, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp through Civilization's Best Bits appears to be an approach that the Monty Python writers might have taken on this subject, but there are no singing lumberjacks, there's no spam, and the loonies and upper-class twits here are real. This is history for those who don't like the subject. Some might feel that this is like saying that the authors have taken a Reader's Digest approach to history, but that would be unfair. Still, this book covers about 60,000 years of history in 400+ pages, so there's going to be some condensation here. But it's how authors Erik Sass and Steve Wiegand went about covering this span of time that make this such a good book. They have peppered each chapter with sidebars on various historical events, public figures and general trivia pertaining to the topic. The consistent style makes this a world history work in which one chapter is not necessarily dependent on having read a prior chapter and it is easy to find the quickest summary for a chapter's time period. I started with the first chapter, as if it was a novel, but will admit to bouncing back in forth between the chapters, as if time-tripping through history in a very random fashion. Some chapters I've read through twice, and there's just one chapter that I have yet to read (don't ask), saving it for last. While I was reading through this book for the first time, I let a friend who used to teach history at the high school level peruse my copy. In the first five minutes his reactions included: 1. "Whaaat?" 2. "You've got to be kidding!" 3. "Hmm, I didn't know that..." 4. "Can I borrow this whan you're finished with it?" The book is divided into twelve chapters and a special appendix, each of which lists the topic: 1. Africa and After (60,000 BCE-1500 BCE) 2. Chaos and Control (1500 BCE-500 BCE) 3. Athens, Alexander and All That (500 BCE-0 BCE) 4. There's No Place Like Rome (Except China, Persia, India, Mexico, and Peru) (1 CE-500 CE) 5. The Not-Really-That-Dark (Unless You Lived in Europe) Ages (500-1000 CE) 6. The Fair-to-Middlin' Ages (Even If You Lived in Europe) (1000-1300 CE) 7. Renaissance, Anyone? (And How About Genocide and Slavery?) (1300-1575 CE) 8. War and Slavery (And, Uh, Enlightenment) (1575-1750) 9. The Age of Liberation, Fragmentation, Stagnation and Plain Ol' Nations (1750-1900) 10. The Empire Strikes Out (1900-1930) 11. To the Brink of the Abyss (1931-1962) 12. One World (1962-2007) Appendix - Oh yeah, Canada The authors have gathered information that is actually correct and factual. It can get slightly dry in places (remember, this is history), but that's not the norm. The book is well-written and the frequent sidebars help break it up a bit. There are quotes from historical characters scattered throughout the book, some which may be familiar, and others that might be new to you. If you haven't gotten enough of Mental Floss' irrever

'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.

I have to confess, I skipped the intro and immediately went to the first chapter and they had me by the end of the first sentence - "If there's one thing you can say about human beings, it's that we're always hungry." With that opening, I knew this would proabably be another mental_floss book that I'd really enjoy. And I haven't been disappointed. The book contains the usual mental_floss stew of obscure facts, bad puns and a style that keeps you reading even when it's a topic you didn't think you were interested in. While the range of topics covered is broad, I felt the authors provided enough detail on each to satisfy my curiosity. The chapter "To the Brink of the Abyss" was particularly sobering in light of today's today's economic woes. My only suggestion is that they probably should have chosen a larger format book so the text didn't feel quite so dense. A minor quibble on another first-rate effort from the mental_floss folks.

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.

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.