Fascinating Footnotes From History

by Giles Milton

'Giles Milton is a man who can take an event from history and make it come alive . . . an inspiration for those of us who believe that history can be exciting and entertaining' Matthew Redhead, The Times

Did you know that Hitler took cocaine? That Stalin robbed a bank? That Charlie Chaplin's corpse was filched and held to ransom?

Giles Milton is a master of historical narrative: in his characteristically engaging prose, Fascinating Footnotes From History details one hundred of the quirkiest historical nuggets; eye-stretching stories that read like fiction but are one hundred per cent fact.

There is Hiroo Onoda, the lone Japanese soldier still fighting the Second World War in 1974; Agatha Christie, who mysteriously disappeared for eleven days in 1926; and Werner Franz, a cabin boy on the Hindenburg who lived to tell the tale when it was engulfed in flames in 1937. Fascinating Footnotes From History also answers who ate the last dodo, who really killed Rasputin and why Sergeant Stubby had four legs.

Peopled with a gallery of spies, rogues, cannibals, adventurers and slaves, and spanning twenty centuries and six continents, Giles Milton's impeccably researched footnotes shed light on some of the most infamous stories and most flamboyant and colourful characters (and animals) from history.

(Previoulsy published in four individual epub volumes: When Hitler Took Cocaine, When Stalin Robbed a Bank, When Lenin Lost His Brain and When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep.)

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History and Politics, War

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2015

About the author

British writer and journalist Giles Milton was born in Buckinghamshire in 1966. He has contributed articles for most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications, and specializes in the history of travel and exploration. In the course of his researches, he has traveled extensively in Europe, the Middle East, Japan and the Far East, and the Americas.

Knowledgeable, insatiably curious and entertaining, Milton locates history's most fascinating—and most overlooked—stories and brings them to life in his books.

He lives in London, where he is a member of the Hakluyt Society, which is dedicated to reprinting the works of explorers and adventurers in scholarly editions, some of which he uses in his research. He wrote most of Samurai William in the London Library, where he loves the "huge reading room, large Victorian desks and creaking armchairs". At home and while traveling, he is ever on the lookout for new untold stories. Apparently he began researching the life of Sir John Mandeville for his book The Riddle and the Knight after Mandeville’s book Travels "literally fell off the shelf of a Paris bookstore" in which he was browsing.

Copyright BookBrowse.com 2007

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love learning odd facts, so this was definitely one for me!

I have read books by this author, but this one deals with small nuggets of strangeness, and it was mind bogglingly fascinating.

[Udit Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very engaging and interesting read. The short stories keep you hooked because they deal with so many different themes. My personal favourites were from world war 2 history. The specific ones which dealt with Holocaust and Third Reich era were too enaging. Some of the stories about escape and then someone volunteering to get into camp to report about it were so incredibly surreal to read.

The other themes were also very engaging. It's an appropriate read when one doesn't know what to read and how to set the reading schedule. One can absolutely pick it up from anywhere and it would be interesting enough to keep you hooked. One will keep scratching their heads regarding the bizzare nature of the stories or one will marvel at the insanity of it. Either ways it's a great read for sure.

[Racheli Zusiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

ספר נחמד ומעניין על כל מיני סיפורים מוזרים, הזויים ומיוחדים מתקופות שונות בהיסטוריה. חלקם "צהובים" ורכילותיים, חלקם מעניינים מאוד. בסך הכל נחמד.

[Simppu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oikeampi kuvaus kirjasta olisi melkeinpä "101 eriskummallista tapahtumaa toisesta maailmansodasta". Odotin, että olisin saanut lukea yllättävistä tieteellisistä löydöistä, keskiaikaisista ufohavainnoista tai vastaavaa, mutta opin lähinnä, että 1900-luvun sodissa oli paljon taisteluita ja ihmiset syövät toisiaan yllättävän usein. Olin pettynyt, että yleisluontoinen käsite "historialliset tapahtumat" tarkoittikin lähes täysin länsimaista historiaa korkeintaan parin viime vuosisadan ajalta. Kirja ei siis vastannut odotuksiani, vaikka moni tarina olikin kiinnostava. Yhdestä tapahtumasta kerrottiin vain muutama sivu, joten kirja sopi hyvin luettavaksi lyhyitä aikoja kerrallaan.

[Armin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So etwas wie das historische Gegenstück zur Miniatur-Schokoriegel-Sammlung Celebrations oder einer Pralinenmischung. Was man schon kennt, schmeckt in Normalgröße besser, ein paar angenehme Überraschungen, aber auch ein paar Geschmacksrichtungen, die man nicht unbedingt braucht.
Für mich ein guter Illustriertenersatz auf einer langen Flugreise oder mal ein paar Seiten für Zwischendrin. Bin jetzt gespannt auf einen langen Milton mit Fokus auf ein bestimmtes Thema oder eine Epoche der Weltgeschichte. Gut und spannend erzählen kann er ja.

[Heli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tykkäsin lapsena aivan suunnattomasti tällaisista lyhyistä historiallisista tosikertomuksista. Lajityypin viehätys ei selvästikään ole haihtunut, koska tämä opus teki mieli hotkia vauhdilla. (Tosin nopeaan kahlaamiseen vaikutti myös se, että laina-aikaa oli vain viikko.) Nopea lukeminen on helppoa, koska parin sivun pituiset jutut on järjestetty aihepiireittäin keskimäärin kolmen tekstin ryhmiin. Lukija voi hyppiä teemasta toiseen ja jättää tylsemmät väliin. Tosin mitään järin pitkästyttävää ei kirjasta edes löydy.

Kirjan 101 kertomusta käsittelevät kiinnostavia ihmiskohtaloita. Mukana on niin selviytymistarinoita kuin rikosjuttuja, ja suuri osa tapauksista liittyy jollakin tavalla natseihin. Tietysti. Vaikka jutuissa on sensaatiohenkeä, kirjoitustyyli ei ole amerikkalaisen liioitteleva. Ennemminkin olen kuulevinani kertojanäänessä BBC-vivahteita. Kertomuksissa on erityisen tarttuvat aloitusvirkkeet. Harmi, kun en ottanut parhaita aloituksia talteen.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book full of fascinating short stories throughout history!

The nature of this book is to pickup and read when you don't have much time, on the bus, eating lunch, etc.

Also leaves you wanting to learn alot more!

Favourite stories of mine:
Hitler stories (English GF, American Nephew, Drug Addiction)
Drunk on Titantic
Hiroo Onoda (Fought until the 70's since he didn't hear about Japan's surrender from WW2)
Stalin stories
Dunkirk
Lebensborn

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

פשוט ספר מיותר

[Celestine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ehkä jopa paras tämän "sarjan" kirjoista! Kivasti kirjoitettu ja kiinnostavia sattumuksia valittu, vaikka osa olikin ennestään tuttuja. Hieman häiritsi se, että suurin osa tarinoista sijoittuu länsimaihin tai länsimaalaiset ovat tarinan toimijoita, ja tarinat ovat lähinnä 1900-luvulla tapahtuneita.

[Ems · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a portion of the books was focused on the world wars and I wish it weren't as much, but overall still an interesting read

[Tamar · Rating 3 out of 5]

b3.5

Very interesting.

[Anna de Keijzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. I placed it in the bathroom and I can tell you that the 3-page stories really work in that place! Unfortunately the stories are quite ethnocentric and there is a clear focus on WW2 and men. Nevertheless very enjoyable and I will recommend it to other history lovers.

[Tiina Leinonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirjan nimi olisi pitänyt suomentaa jotenkin toisin, otsikko on hivenen harhaanjohtava. Tapahtumat eivät ole niinkään outoja ja eriskummallisia vaan lähinnä mielenkiintoisia historiallisia yksityiskohtia suurista maailmansodista, onnettomuuksista ja katastrofeista. Varsinkin ihmepelastumisia kurjista olosuhteista riittää. Mikäli lukija odottaa - niin kuin itse odotin kirjan nimen perusteella - todella outoja juttuja joita en ole aikaisemmin tiennyt, niin tulee kyllä pettymään. Historialliset tapahtumat käydään perusteellisesti läpi mutta varsinaisesti mitään uutta ja mullistavaa ei ilmene. Mielenkiintoinen kirja toki on ja historian ystävänä pidin siitä, mutta outoja juttuja siinä on varsin niukasti. Ja kun sotahistoria ei varsinaisesti itseäni kiinnosta, niin maailmansotiin liittyvää aineistoa oli puuduttavankin paljon. Kaipasin myös naisnäkökulmaa, turhan mieskeskeistä oli kerronta. Jos tarinassa oli naisia, he joko palvoivat Hitleriä, olivat onnettomia uhreja tai sitten leikkasivat miehiltä peniksen irti. En tiedä jaksanko lukea enempää tekijän teoksia. Historian toistoa.

[Maurice Tougas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giles Milton wrote one of my favourite books from last year, Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a fascinating compendium of British daring-do during WWII. Fascinating Footnotes carries on with the theme of little know moments in history. Although it's a fun read, it's not as gripping as Ungentlemanly Warfare, mainly because it's scattered throughout history and the segments are brief, no more than a couple of pages. Still, there is plenty to chew on here. For example, I didn't know Hitler had an English girlfriend, and an American nephew. Did you know that three people survived both Hiroshima AND Nagasaki? Joseph Stalin robbed a bank, and died mysteriously (Murdered? Maybe). There's a story of Stubby, a military dog whose exploits are amazing.
As the title suggests, it's not deep dive history, just footnotes. And yes, they are fascinating. Lots of fun in a historical sort of way, providing a good jumping off point if you want to dig deeper into the footnotes.

[Marko Rinne · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Fascinating footnotes from history). Very interesting little true stories. I liked the bibliography at the end, so if I was interested in reading more about some happenings, I could find the books. Some stories have been made into movies, I recognized a few. For Finnish readers I recommend also Tuhansien mokien maa by Vesa Sisättö. Similar stories, though longer, from Finland.

[Jonny Thomson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Massive hit and miss, with more misses than hits for me. They really should make more of the fact that by 'history' Milton means only really modernity. There might be only a handful of snippets from before the late 18th or 19th century to be honest.
There were a few great stories though, and I liked how it didn't shy from the gorier elements.

Not one to re-read.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the book you read, when you don't know what to read. It is an immensely entertaining series of short fascinating historic items. If you want to be really irritating, keep telling other what you have just read. It will drive them nuts. But if you read it alone, it will be a very addictive read that you will find very hard to stop until you have finished it.

[Justus Kelloniemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lyhyitä ja makaabereja tarinoita historiasta. Sopii hyvin keskittymisrajoitteisille, itselle tämän lukeminen oli aika tuskaisa kokemus. Osa jutuista oli toki kiinnostavia, mutta paremmin kirjan nimeksi olisi sopinut Ihminen on paha.

[Nichola Theobald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Learnt a few obscure things from history.
Have been reading this one on and off for months

[Andrew McAuley · Rating 3 out of 5]

While quite interesting, of the dozens of 'footnotes' included in the book, they are mostly very well known events. Many of them have had multiple books and movies written about them, so whereas the title of the book suggests some interesting anecdotes which the author has unearthed through research, you might be forgiven for thinking the research consisted almost entirely of Wikipedia sources.

There isn't really any evidence of any primary evidence used in researching the book; but then as the events covered are all pretty well in the public domain already, perhaps it's not really needed- especially as most of the pieces are covered in 2-5 pages. It all feels rather lazy, or at best, a history book for people that are mildly interested in history but just want to know about the most interesting bits.

Most of the events covered are pretty modern; most are from World War 1 onward. I would guess less than 10 dating before 1900. I didn't dislike the book, but it's definitely not groundbreaking stuff.

[Tuhkatriin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Autori veidruslävi tundus asuvat võrdlemisi madalal, ühtlasi huvitas teda eelkõige lähiajalugu, kitsamalt sõjandus. Teisest maailmasõjast, Hitlerist, natsidest ja koonduslaagritest oli seega ebaproportsionaalselt palju juttu (vihje oleks pidanud muidugi andma juba raamatu kaas), aga ega enam ei jaksa neid kõikjal äraleierdatud lugusid üha uuesti lugeda.
Päris uut leiduski vähe, samuti oleksin tahtnud lugeda midagi... veidramat (eks palju sõltub ilmselt ka sellest, kuidas keegi sõna veider enda jaoks defineerib) ning natuke mitmekesisematest ajalooperioodidest, geograafilistest kohtadest ja sündmustest, aga siin oli hoopis tüütavalt palju juttu kahest viimasest maailmasõjast, ekspeditsioonidest ja kannibalismist.
Väga muhe oli küll briti huumoriga pikitud lugu kuningannaga voodis kohtumisest.
Tehnilise poole pealt oli silmahakkavalt palju keeletoimetamise näpukaid.

[Linda Nasredin · Rating 2 out of 5]

ספר חמוד אבל בינוני מאד. לא אהבתי את הכתיבה, לא כל היסטוריון יכול להיות סופר מסתבר. ולא כל אחד יכול לכתוב בכישרון סיפורים כלכך קצרים ולקלוע למטרה, לעיתים הרגיש שהסיפור נגמר מהר מדיי ולפני זמנו. מודה שהרבה מהאינפורמציה בסיפורים עניינה אותי, אבל הרבה מהם הרגישו צהובים. אפשר היה לוותר על חלק מהתיאורים הגרפים.
יותר מדיי סיפורים שקשורים למלחמת העולם השניה, אמנם זה בהחלט אירוע מאד חשוב בהיסטוריה, אבל החלק היחסי שלו בספר מוגזם לטעמי. גם סיפורים שקשורים לקניבליזם, אפשר היה להסתפק באחד.
אני חושבת שאפשר היה לספר על הרבה דברים אחרים שאנחנו לא יודעים עליהם ושבאמת נשמטו מספרי ההיסטוריה, כמו שכתוב על עטיפת הספר.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains a set of short essays about many obscure episodes in history, I knew about a few of them but the rest were new to me. Most of the chapters are fascinating. My only problem with the book is that each chapter is far too short. However, the author does give a list of his sources for each chapter. So, if you wish to delve deeper into any of these interesting subject, the bibliography is a useful starting point.

I read the book from start to finish, but this is not necessary; you can dip into it at random, and still enjoy it,

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

All that I can say is this book was fun to read. I am not a literary critic. I just know what I like in a book does it keep me interested, do I get new knowledge from it or does it involve me in it. If a book does that then I have no problems with it. This book kept my interest all the way through sure yes it did. Did get new information from it, yes. Now there were some tidbits that were not new to me, but the new ones were worth reading the old ones.

[Ant Koplowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly entertaining collection of historical vignettes, many of which fall into the 'vaguely interesting' category. Some I'd heard of before, including the much-repeated Agatha Christie 1920s disappearance 'mystery'...shame that the author got some of the facts wrong, though. It was an easy read and a fun collection to dip into if you don't want anything too intellectually taxing.

© Koplowitz 2023

[Apratim Mukherjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of anecdotes of world history. The author has divided the book in 33 chapters; each containing three or four tidbits of history.The best thing about this book is that the stories are told while taking a high moral ground where a spade is called a spade.The only thing which can be called as an underwhelming aspect is the non-inclusion of Asian or Latin American historical footnotes.Otherwise,this is an interesting read.

[Virpi Vuorisalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giles Miltonin Maailma on outo: 101 eriskummallista historiallista tapahtumaa.
Kirja sinällään oli ihan mielenkiintoinen, mutta ehkä kuitenkin keskityttiin liikaa amerikkalaisiin sekä toisen maailman sodan tapahtumiin. Näin suomalaisena oli kiva huomata että meidän pieni maa oli jopa muutamaan otteeseen päässyt kirjaan mukaan.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of short stories from history, Giles Milton writes in such a fantastic style that makes you thirsty for more. Couldn't put the book down from start to finish, and learned so many things I knew nothing about! Would recommend this to everyone, it's a book you'll read, tell everyone about and have a bank of fun facts from history to tell!

[Matt Gosney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly focused on Hitler and World War II, there are some interesting tales about explorers, women dressed as men to serve in the military, men dressed as women for sultry reasons, a dog and pigeon who fought in war, eunuchs and other stories of extraordinary individual achievements in history.
A story is maybe three pages, so a good little go to before bed.

[Orrezz · Rating 5 out of 5]

זה למעשה אוסף של סיפורים קצרים מאוד וכתובים היטב. חלקם פורסים פיסת היסטוריה לא מוכרת, אחרים מהווים יותר בגדר רכילות, אבל רובם המוחלט מרתקים למדי וגם משאירים מקום למחשבה. ההערה היחידה שלי היא שיש בקובץ הזה כמה סיפורים לא פשוטים לעיכול, עם תיאורים מפורטים של פשעים מתועבים במיוחד כמו קניבליזם. היה ראוי לשים לפניהם אזהרת טריגר.