True Facts That Sound Like Bull$#*t: World History: 500 Preposterous Facts They Definitely Didn’t Teach You in School

by Shane Carley

Turkeys used to be worshipped as gods? Bull$#*t! Prove you are the smartest schmuck in the room with 500 world history facts that sound too absurd to be true. Knowledge is power! Crush the competition at trivia night or start the most interesting conversation ever with real facts that are hard to believe. This book is loaded with mind-blowing facts that are sure to keep you wondering, "How are these even true?" while equipping you to outsmart everyone in the room. Put your game face on and prove once and for all that you are the real history know-it-all! Gather your friends and family 'round and get ready to learn some crazy trivia they definitely didn’t teach you in history class.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook

256 pages, Paperback

Published February 13, 2024

Reviews

[Carlton Phelps]

Funny and fascinating facts.
Mr. Carley has grabbed facts from around the world and put them in this book for us to use and enjoy.
By the term use, I mean astound your friends with these little facts and then challenge them to prove you wrong. That is if you fully checked out which facts you are using, just in case Mr. Carley slipped on a ringer for his fun.
Great read.
Mr. Carley has several books about little-known facts and his books are entertaining.

[Amy]

save your money

errors, poor editing, and the use of large fonts make this book both unreliable and not truly 250 pages

[Mike Kowis]

I rate most books that I read at 3 stars or higher. Sadly, I made an exception for this book (wish I could rate it as 2 and 1/2 stars) because I felt like the description/title were a bit misleading and the book contained at least 1 inaccurate "fact."

MISLEADING DESCRIPTION/TITLE
Based on the description and title, I was expecting a book filled with WORLD HISTORY FACTS that are true, but sound false. While this interesting book does contain lots of historical world facts, it also contains a huge amount of RANDOM FACTS ABOUT WOMEN (e.g., the first female mayor in the U.S. was X, the first female hispanic astronaut was Y, etc.). Nothing wrong with those facts, but they don't seem to fit in with world history facts (e.g., during the Great Depression, people made clothes out of potato sacks, the Americans used inflatable tanks to fool the Nazis during during WWII, etc.). I wish the author described and/or titled the book as containing a significant number of random facts about women so that readers understood what they are buying.

INACCURATE "FACT"
The book also contained at least one false statement of "fact." Page 102 states that "Carrots aren't actually good for your eyes..." In fact, carrots are widely known to be rich in beta-carotene — which the body converts to vitamin A, an essential nutrient for vision. Carrots also help protect against age-related eye diseases. Clearly, carrots are good for your eyes. However, I'm guessing the author probably intended to state that "carrots do not IMPROVE eye sight," which of course is not the same thing as what was stated in this book. After reading this inaccurate "fact," I began to question the accuracy of the other "facts" in this book... to be fair, I didn't check all facts in the book, so I have no idea if any other facts were also inaccurate.

On the positive side, the book does contain many interesting world history facts. So, it's not all bad. Just not exactly what I expected.

[Sue]

I rushed through this on audio as a distraction while wrapping Christmas gifts. No xmas music for me, thank you very much! I got my fill of it way the heck back before Halloween! Why do merchants do this to us? Well, right now I kind of understand because a winter snow storm has prevented many of my gifts from arriving. Too bad I didn’t take the cue in October and go buy some gifts!

This was fun and charming and I loved the information. Did I learn anything? Well no I did not. I never planned to. My plan was in one ear, out the other and it served well for that purpose.

Merry Christmas to all of you! Happy Holidays to those who prefer that. Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza and so many more! I just want every person to have a joyous wonderful holiday no matter how you celebrate!

[John E.]

Interesting Facts and Well Written

This book is an entertaining read that is filled with facts that many of us have heard but never verified. The author also reveals numerous obscure facts that few people have ever heard. For example, woolly mammoths still roamed the planet while the great pyramids were being constructed. Carley also notes certain facts that many have heard but are false. For example, in the late 1800’s there were two cars in The State of Ohio and they collided. False. Catherine the Great was crushed by a horse while attempting intercourse with it. False. This is light and informative reading.

[James Crawford]

This is another book in a series about unusual facts about different topics, most of which will prove fascinating. Examples of some of these include parachuting beavers, an English kind that couldn't speak English, a Department of Defense plan to deal with a zombie apocalypse, the Emu war, Bat Bombs and a Pope's war on cats.

It's all really interesting and a fun read.

[Samantha Noland]

I listened to this book while walking and all I remember is Victorian women used to get their nipples pierced and therefore I am a Victorian woman. Safe to say I won’t be listening to audiobooks anymore 🫶🏼

[James Kay]

A Pleasant Way to Waste Lot of Time

Some of it I already knew. Some I found interesting, and the rest was a bit of a bore. There was one glaring error where the "fact" for one item is repeated for the next item with an unrelated description.

[Kathleen Kann]

Funny and fascinating

I learned a lot and learned some of the things I thought were true, weren't. I'm glad,I got this,book and enjoyed sharing some of the crazier facts with my family.

[Mary]

Fun little snippets of trivia. Quick to go through.

[Wondra Vanian]

Fun - but would be more interesting if it backed the facts up or went into more detail.

[Mhorg]

So so

As an avid reader, I found this book bland for the most. I already knew ninety percent of these facts. Amusing just barely.

[peter lang]

Loved it

I am looking forward for the next book to come out, at least I hope that there will be another

[S. Ryan]

Meh

This book contains many typos, false facts, and many common knowledge items listed as unknown. Though some items were interesting and new.

[Donna C Schmidt]

Interesting

Should have been proof read better. Errors found. The facts were interesting. Good for starting conversations with steangers or at dinner parties.

[Mary McDonald Lee]

Fun way to switch up my last non-fiction book of the year. Would recommend as a gift for someone who appreciates world history around politics, war, and science.

[Sam Stokes]

Ok.

OK COULD be better.

Th Super man graphic novels are.better.

Give it a try in 2026! Could be worse. .

[Dustin Logston]

interesting facts

I’m not much of a reader but I finished this in 2 days of reading it off and on when going to bed.

[Julie]

Quick read. Better than expected.