Strange History

Strange Series #1

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

The fifth book in the popular Uncle John’s Briefs series contains the strangest short history articles from over 30 Bathroom Readers—along with 50 all-new pages. From the 20th century to the Old West, from the Age of Enlightenment to the Dark Ages, from ancient cultures all the way back to the dawn of time, Strange History is overflowing with mysterious artifacts, macabre legends, kooky inventions, reality-challenged rulers, boneheaded blunders, and mind-blowing facts. Read about…

*The curse of Macbeth
*Stupid history: Hollywood style
*The secret LSD experiments of the 1960s
*In search of the lost “Cloud People” of Peru
*The Swedish queen who declared war on fleas
*Unearthing the past with the Outhouse Detectives
*The Apollo astronaut who swears he saw a UFO
*How to brew a batch of 5,000-year-old beer
*The brutal bloodbaths at Rome’s Coliseum
*Ghostly soup from ancient China
*The bathroom of the 1970s

And much, much more!

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Humor, Historical, Trivia, Reference, Politics

415 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2016

About the author

The Bathroom Reader's Institute UJBR boasts more than 12 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers . . .

Reviews

[Morris]

“Strange History” is a fun history book filled with facts and stories that will have you either laughing, horrified, or thankful you don’t know what crazy stuff is going on right now behind-the-scenes. All of the stories are short and can be read quickly. It definitely makes history fun and accessible. In fact, I recommend it for teachers or parents to get interesting anecdotes they can throw into relevant lessons to keep students engaged.

This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Jim]

Interesting stories best read bit by bit. But, finally, I finished it. The authors give us "mind-blowing facts," legends and ghost stories, mysteries, and "boneheaded blunders."
As I like animals, I was particularly interested in stories involving them. I did not know that Josephine, Napoleon's wife, had a pet orangutan whom she dressed up and taught to use utensils. I also didn't know about Miracle Mike, the headless rooster of Colorado. After his head was cut off, he lived for 18 more months. I did know that in the Middle Ages people killed cats as they were thought to be tools of witches. During the Black Death in Europe in the 14th Century, thousands of cats were slaughtered. Now we know that the plague was transmitted by fleas that lived on rats. If all those cats had not been killed, they might have been alive to kill those rats, reducing the death toll of about 30 million people. I knew the Romans slaughtered a lot of animals (and people) in their arenas. Due to their slaughters in the arena, the North African elephant became extinct, as well as the Mesopotamian lion, Nubian hippo, and Hyrkanian tiger.
I thought there were some interesting stories about great disasters. I knew about the Great Halifax Explosion which occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia, during World War I. This happened when a cargo ship carrying 5,000 tons of explosives blew up in the harbor, killing 1,600 people instantly. It was the largest man-made blast until the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A far worse disaster was that of the eruption of the Toba volcano in Sumatra. When it erupted 75,000 years ago, an incredible amount of ash was spewed into the atmosphere. Much of Southeast Asia was buried in ash, but much worse was the volcanic winter that was caused. This winter possibly lasted as long as ten years, killing off 80-90% of the humans on the planet. Only a few thousand humans survived to become our ancestors. Let's hope something like that does not happen again...?

[Simona]

*I've got this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review*

This book was quite an entertaining read, however there were some "facts" that didn't sound like reality, so I tried to do my research and find more about them, however I didn't found any proof of them. That's why I would recommend to not look at this book and what's in it too seriously, or at least do your research first.
However I still recommend this book for a mood lifter, because there were definitely some stories that made me smile.
It is a great book for coffee table or at a waiting room in doctors office, because you don't have to read it from start to finish in order to understand what it is about, all the stories are short and each of them talk about different topics.

[Erin]

Strange history, indeed! I can express with certainty that a few of my students would absolutely delight in all the peculiar historical tidbits that are mentioned in this book. Especially the farting and Homer Simpson remarks. I must confess that I really felt that the historical tidbits regarding cats was probably my favorite parts.


Thanks to NetGalley for a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Cristina]

This was one of the weirdest books I ever had the chance to read. I got it for free from Netgalley, but this isn't the whole point. The fact of the matter is that I didn't know what review I should have written about Strange History, in the end. It was a strange and sometimes disgusting collection of stories and anecdotes about certain famous characters who might have existed or not. At times, I wasn't sure whether or not I was reading something inspired by real events or if the stories were snippets of the imagination of the person who had put them together.
Continue reading: http://www.booksforwhat.com/2016/12/s...

[Christine]

I am fairly convinced that I now know where the writers on “Jeopardy” get some of their questions. I was flipping through the pages of this book during a commercial break while watching the game show and there it was! – The exact trivia tidbit that had just been a question on the show. Their secret is out now.

STRANGE HISTORY by The Bathroom Readers Institute

The folks at the Readers Institute have taken some of the most interesting historical facts and strange stories from their numerous previous books and compiled them in this book that is perfect for history trivia buffs. According to the blurb on the book there are also about 50 pages of previously unpublished stories.

Whether you have read the some of the stories before or all of them are brand new to you this book is a fun read. Do you want to know if Marco Polo really saw Unicorns, the story behind the curse on Shakespeare’s Macbeth or who really discovered the Rosetta Stone? This is the book that will give you all that and so much more.

I didn’t realize there was a Reader dedicated to Canadian facts and trivia nor one featuring scary stories … they are definitely going to be added to my TBR.

I'd like to thank Printers Row Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book at no charge

[Heather]

This is a great book to pick up before bed. All the stories are about one page and are very quick reads, making this book very easy to pick up and put down without having to worry about losing the plot (cause there isn't one...).
As an avid non-fiction reader, I was activity looking for factual errors whilst reading this. I was very surprised that I didn't find any obvious errors or inaccuracies. There are some details, theories, and in-depth information left out, but when your aim is to fit stories on one page, that's understandable. I'm not saying you should take any information in this book as gospel, however. If you find something particularly interesting, always find more sources and check the facts for yourself. But I'd say that with ANY non-fiction book, not just this one. Always second guess. But all in all, I think fans of oddities, history, non-fiction, etc will really enjoy this one.

**I received this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

[Connie Anderson]

If you are into hilarious (flatulence), scary sick (priests eating babies boiled then baked), or plainly bizarre (an assassin shot Lincoln's stove-pipe hat then took off), this book is for you. It is supposed to be for bathroom reading, which is great if you like being in there, but it makes for a great coffee table book to share with your friends and family. There is a lot of wacky stuff. Three areas talk about farts that will leave you in stitches. What do outhouse treasure seekers find.....in several areas. Whatever you like, you will find it somewhere within these pages. It is kind of like being in " Raiders of the Lost Ark"!

Thank you to the Bathroom Readers Institute and NetGalley for giving me an e-ARC of this book to read and give my honest review.

[Alicia]

This fun romp is something akin to a Where's Waldo? where everyone can just have it available to flip through when they have a bit of time, except this gives the reader a bit more brain powers. Most of the pieces of history are one to three pages in length and sometimes bulleted, written as a story, or detail an account making it easy to read and thoroughly enjoyable.

[Christopher Hicks]

This was a fun read full of interesting tidbits throughout history! I love these kind of books

[Zippergirl]

Some people read everywhere and anywhere. "Strange History" is the perfect volume for reading in fits and starts as it will illuminate and entertain equally in small portions or large gulps. "The Aliens Inside Mt. Shasta" and "How to Speak Hobo" are only a few of the many delights found within the more than four hundred illustrated pages. Watch for "Botched History" in which speakers and writers who are expected to know better send clunkers out into the world, as when Vice President Joe Biden, while discussing the 1929 stock market crash, placed Franklin D. Roosevelt on television, ten years before broadcast TV was available. It's fun to feel superior.

Trivia fans, those Cliff Clavins who can't resist dropping factoids into a conversation, will find an arsenal of strange historical tidbits with which to fact-bomb their friends and neighbors and secure their reputation as a know-it-all. You know who you are. You want this book.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

[N.N. Heaven]

I was never one to like history class in school. In fact, I found it to be quite boring. I was a creative child and my mind drew a blank every time the teacher called on me. But if I had read this book, I might’ve paid more attention.



From those hysterical people who bring you Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers (my grandfather’s favorite books), comes Strange History. Filled with fascinating facts, people and events, this is a fabulous collection of history. From ancient history to the present, you’ll learn things they never taught you in school. With over 400 pages, it’s a must-read! Reading in the washroom is optional.



Thank you to Printers Row Publishing Group and Netgalley for giving me a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.



My Rating: 5 stars


This review first appeared: https://princessofthelight.wordpress.com

[Ionia]

This book is a mish-mash of a little of everything history related. I absolutely loved it. This is told from a hysterically funny perspective with little anecdotes to follow the historical event. I loved the way the book was organised and couldn't wait to share passages from it with friends and family.

This would be a great book to share with school aged children if you wanted to introduce them to a particular event or time period in history without them finding it boring. Although the book is humorous, the facts are still correct.

I giggled my way through this book in a single evening, and happily recommend it to others interested in history or simply looking for a good laugh.

This review is based on a complementary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Mystereity Reviews]

I love books like this where every page is a something new waiting to be discovered. I found it hard to put the book down and even when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Inside, you can find historical facts encompassing everything from the longest unassisted solo cow flight in recorded history to historical facts about famous figures, to the treasures one can find digging up old privies (I fully expect Outhouse Detectives to be a series on the History Channel sometime in the near future.)

Strange History is a fascinating, entertaining and side-splitting read that will stay with you for a long time. At the very least, you'll never look at an Olympic torch relay the same way again.

[Jes Caruss]

First, I grew up reading Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers. In fact, I’m pretty good with random facts because of it.
I had just asked reciently if they still published the books, and I came across “Strange History“. Full of wonderful, strange, sometimes scary, sometimes funny wired factoids and quotes from the not so distant and prehistoric times. If you love random facts, love history, or just need something to help your constitutional, this is the book for you!

[Kid Disaster]

Great book to pick up in the bathroom! You can read one to two pages at a time about hundreds of different historical facts and oddities. I enjoyed the read and learned plenty of random facts.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Susan]

An interesting book to read if you want to learn strange facts about the world. A book that can be dipped in for a few minutes and then put aside. You would certainly learn something most times that you picked up the book. As someone who enjoys history this is a book for me.
A NetGalley Book

[Sandy]

This was just a fun, interesting read. I liked that each story was no more than a page pretty much.

[Jeanine]

Quirky, fun book filled with strange historical facts and information. An engaging read with snippets of information that allows for short bursts of reading much like the Uncle John books.

[Carlissa]

I thought this would be a fun book full of strange trivia, but I was really bored by it.

[Kathryn Barnett]

STRANGE HISTORY by Bathroom Readers Institute

What can I say, I loved it. I didn’t read it in the bathroom but it didn’t make a difference, so you don’t have to change your reading habits. Yeah, just another reason the read this book.
Now to be serious, this is actually a really fun and believe it or not, an extremely interesting read. It is full of facts you never knew (or never wanted to) and has quotes from interesting and quirky people. Many don’t seem to know what they are talking about, but they are mostly political types so that’s normal.
Honestly, if you haven’t read this book buy it, borrow it or steal it (just joking on that one, honestly) but you gotta read it, ENJOY!!

[Kimberly Purcell]

This is a perfect bathroom reader if you love history or weird subjects, especially so if your taste in history runs odd. Some of the topics are excavating defunct outhouses, a fartiste, real life Frankensteins (the doctor not the monster) and famous peoples' quotes where they got history wrong. Fun, informative, easy read.

[Kat Sundgren]

It was pretty good. I think it has a good variety of facts from across history. The stories are short and snappy, which helps keep your attention. I also appreciate the humor of the authors. I would have liked some footnotes on where the information came from so you could follow it up if you wanted to know more or If you question the validity of the fact (which I did on a few).

[MaryAnn Lockey]

One of the way I rate book is if I would buy the book for someone after reading it I would I give it a five. Well I bought it for my son. Now do I believe all the statements in this book? The answer is no, but I’m to lazy to do my own research. I found it interesting and amusing. Read a couple chapters before bed.

[G. Edweird Cheese]

A fun bathroom read full of weird useless facts that I will now try to use in casual conversation. Did you know that crocodile dung suppositories were used as contraceptives in ancient Egypt... I'm gonna kill at the next dinner party!

[Ismaeel]

The book is amusing in the stories it tells. I personally really enjoy the small tidbits of information you that isn't everyday information. If you're like me, this book is a must for anyone mature enough to read some of the content.

[Cris]

This was a very interesting read, I would agree 100% that’s it’s a bathroom read! I found some odd and definitely interesting things about our history!

[Paula Beckler]

Interesting facts but sometimes hard to keep my interest

[Ryan]

Good book with hundreds of stories. I was actually kinda sad to finish this incredible book!

[Ashley]

Funny and cool facts