Atlas of History's Greatest Disasters & Mistakes

by Tim Cooke

A compelling collection of human error and catastrophe through the ages - from the fall of Croesus to the destruction of Pompeii, from the Great Fire of London to the Great Depression, and from Little Big Horn to the Banking Crises of 2008. The dynamic incidents, crises, battles and defeats from all the fields of endeavor are included.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

223 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2013

Reviews

[Michael Grizer (He-Him) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quick fun read that just makes you want to jump on Wikipedia for the rest of the story.

[Katlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't really say much about the editing or legitimacy of the facts, as I honestly am no expert on dates or grammar. I can only comment from a consumer standpoint. The book was entertaining and I liked the maps it included. I felt that it was too brief most of the time. Some topics should have gotten an extra couple of pages at the very least, but I guess they didn't want the book to be too long. Also, as others have stated, it really was Western-centric. 3.5/5

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and readable and interesting

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brief look at disastrous events through history. A few obscure ones but most were quite obvious

[Mary Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short vignettes fulfilling the title. Quick reading. Opens ideas for further reading.

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tidbits of history designed to make you go find out more.
Some events I felt were missed but I guess it would be hard to fit them all in

[Jared Cole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unabashedly biased. The author does not even attempt to convey context for whomever they deem to be on the wrong side of history.

[Tesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always get annoyed when I am reading a History book and I find editing errors...but aside from that bit of annoyance, the book was fairly entertaining. Cooke provides enough information to give the reader a general idea of the events in the book, but not enough for a detailed account, to put it in more basic terms, this book is a decent jumping off point to research one of the named disasters he mentions. I do think in some chapters he was being a bit repetitive, but overall, it is a decent read.

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay... not much was specified in each case what the mistake(s) were and some of the entries were too short. Which can happen when covering complicated events. Other than that, the maps were pretty good and it covered events around the world. But not too much in Asia... I am up to the 1700s and NOTHING has been mentioned about Japan or China or anything else really but Europe and the Americas.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally, utterly fascinating. Really enjoyed reading it.

[Terry Szesny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting facts, mixed with some pretty basic facts, nicely presented. Thoroughly 'Western' viewpoint, as far as what determines 'Greatest'.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Necessarily over-simple explanations, with a relatively poor treatment of several topics. A good book for an 8th grader interested in history, but I'm not sure who else.