The Lowbrow Guide to World History

by Michael Powell

History - long ennobled as the privileged domain of lofty scholars and erudite minds - really just boils down to four things if you think about it. Who killed who, who conquered who, who slept with who, and in what order. Humanity's story, properly told, is every bit as bawdy as a sailor's yarn, as juicy as a Mills & Boon, as real and relevant as a night on the town with your drinking buddies. Problem is, it's usually told by Ivory Tower academics and droning documentarians. The Lowbrow Guide to World History is here to set the record straight, summing up our sordid past in terms we can all understand. Posing questions real people would ask - could Christopher Columbus even navigate his way out of a paper bag? What was so terrible about Ivan? Which of Henry Vill's wives was the most beddable? Who was crazier, Caligula or Nero? - author Michael Powell gets to the bottom of legendary figures' motivations and methods and shows why we should still be interested in them today. Witty? Irreverent? Non-traditional? Even raunchy and sophomoric? Thankfully, yes! The Lowbrow Guide to World History reminds us how much we can learn when we remember not to take ourselves too seriously.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Humor, Reference

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kate Baxter]

This is a humorous collection of many strange historical facts which we were never taught in school. Frankly, many of the tidbits may be deemed a bit too colorful for young eyes. Sophomoric might be the better description. Definitely not to be utilized for historical reference purposes.

[Boni]

So this may seem sophomoric, college humor, but clearly a lot of research and interesting theories and facts are mixed in. The humor strikes me as ‘The Onion’ humor does… I love it’s irreverence mixed in with anecdotes… There are so many random stories, most very cool and interesting…told in very short sections, very readable in snippets… and with glossy pictures! Some reviewers of this book seemed so serious and confused by the heavy flavor of sarcasm… politely I’ll note this book was clearly not for them 😂.

[Rachel Burgess]

Prioritised sarcastic humour over historical accuracy - I was unsure if the areas of history in the book that I did not already know about were accurate, and areas I did know about, the book got wrong by trying to be funny. Some aspects the humour was worth it, but overall, I'd prefer historical accuracy.

[LM Huffman]

Mildly entertaining but chooses a weak attempt at snarky humor at the expense of historical error. One can be respectful of history and still be funny, but that is not the case here. Wish I could share it with students, but because of how lewd it is, I can't. A disappointment.

[Nichole]

I actually ended up abandoning this. I'm not sure who it's written for. It's often not clear which things are jokes, exaggerations, sarcasm, or sensationalized. Or actually true that they selected because they are wild and wacky.

[Grant]

Spotty, but fun, collection of oddities.

[Marty]

History for those who lack the time, or the patience or the desire to understand anything below the surface.

[Aliya]

Amusing albeit with a little too much bathroom humor.

[Kaupo Sempelson]

Sisukust oli ootuspäraselt vähe, ent samas oli hästi põnev lugeda ja iroonia oli ka meeldiv külg selle raamatu puhul.

[Tina]

Entertaining and witty, it gave some insight into many historical anomalies and answered questions I never knew I had! This was a fun read.

[jj Grilliette]

If these more interesting parts of history were included, people might be more interested in learning about it. Then maybe we would not be doomed to repeat it

[Phil Machonis]

Cute book, if not entirely historically accurate (I'm not a historian so I don't know for sure but some of the details seem a little far-fetched).

[Kris]

Lowbrow is quite right, it was good for some chortles though. The author is a wee bit too proud of his wit, and several parts were forced. Several parts repeat old chestnuts, like Nero fiddling while ROme burned, and a few places were frankly made up, but those moments were silly enough to recognize as such.

[Jaanika]

Book full of potential but regrettably vulgar style and mess where different mythology, religions and speculations (even rumors) were presented as a historical facts. However, I found many of the topics interesting and also format of the book was nice (small hardcover) and that's why it gets these two points. If they just were discussed in an accurate and academic way not this emotional, arrogant, speculative and groundless talk. In conclusion..I wouldn't bother ..and I was definetely dissapointed. But if you want to find legends, gossip and rumors then you can find quite a few here to discuss and study furthermore.

[K]

Although I gleaned some interesting historical anecdotes, this book is quite crass. Who could have guessed from the title, eh?

[Andrew]

Funny little book full of facts about history.

[Jennifer Daniel]

My favorite chapters were, Fat Chicks: A Historical Perspective and Ugly People Throughout the Ages. A brief history of defication however was not breif enough. Extremely lowbrow!

[Alison]

Tongue in cheek view on the promenent subject in history. Already has the knowledge beforehand, nothing new. Context written almost Chav-like...

[David James]

Meh.

[Becky]

A great bathroom book, even history fans might learn a thing or two.

[Philip Demare]

Entertaining book of the bathroom reader type. Check out the William the Conquerer's abcess section.

[Miriam Matthews]

Great.
Loved it.

[Jodie]

An interesting and funny read. I liked it.