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Last Words of Notable People: Final Words of More Than 3500 Noteworthy People Throughout History
Last Words of Notable People (2010) is a comprehensive core reference work on “last words,” “dying words” or “famous last words.” A work of unprecedented scope and study...Covering the final utterances of noted people over the span of thousands of years and the entire globe; each person is presented with a relevant biographical treatment. Each entry is meticulously documented, citing best sources available. Connection or relation of cited sources to entries are presented. Accuracy or veracity of reputed “last words” is often questioned. Conflicting variations of reported “last words” for many entries are presented for the purpose of further research. Contains a detailed selected annotated bibliography of significant “last word” sources. Well indexed. The conclusion of more than a dozen years work and consultation of tens of thousands of sources, Last Words of Notable People is far and away the definitive compilation and treatment of recorded “last words” compiled to date. Highly recommended for libraries and reference collections.
671 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 29, 2012
I love this, people's last words are very interesting, but the only terrible thing about it is that i found myself laughing out loud at many of the quotes and then i remember that these people are dead, and i feel like the very terrible person that i am.
October 9, 2010
I enjoyed reading this book on the “Last Words” of famous and infamous people. Brahms has taken these final utterances and put them into context by giving a brief history of each person and the circumstances of the quote. He also indicates whether the quote is true or doubtful. Several of history’s more notable deathbed quotes turn out to be unsubstantiated or taken from previous writings or speeches. The alphabetical set up make it easy to find information on historical figures who may turn up in fictional writing – I was able discover background about two tangential characters in People of the Book, from this very complete reference book. For those who love quotes and last words, this book is fascinating to read.
January 3, 2012
I haven't really "read" this book so to speak, but I enjoy just flipping to a random page and checking out the last words of whoever I find. He list the sources and sometimes multiple last words because different biographies have listed different last words. It is just so interesting. You get a very brief statement or two about who the person was and then the last words, and being a reference style book it is just simple alphabetic by last name to find any person you want.
February 5, 2013
This is a delightful encyclopedia.
These two are my favorites:
"I am about to—or I am going to—die. Either expression is correct."—Dominique Bouhours, a French grammarian. (His proximity to death probably made him second-guess his grammar.)
And, of course, Oscar Wilde, dying in a garishly decorated hotel room: "It's the wallpaper or me—one of us has to go."
These two are my favorites:
"I am about to—or I am going to—die. Either expression is correct."—Dominique Bouhours, a French grammarian. (His proximity to death probably made him second-guess his grammar.)
And, of course, Oscar Wilde, dying in a garishly decorated hotel room: "It's the wallpaper or me—one of us has to go."
December 14, 2018
This is a reference book that is sourced and in alphabetical order by deceased persons last name. It is wonderfully put together and easy to use. In some cases, the person's last words are disputed and the authors has made a note of those. Happy to have this book!
May 17, 2019
This book is a large collection of the last words of more than 3500 people, famous and non-famous. Many of them appeared to be uninteresting words. But Occasionally, you find very deep words that provide very deep lessons to the reader. The Author put huge effort to write a short biography on each person including the multiple possible last words to each person.
Out of these last words reported in this book, many people appeared to become religious at their deathbed, others appears confused and see things that no one but them see it as it is in the case of the Irish poet William Allingham when he woke up from a brief semicoma and exclaimed:" I see such things as you can not dream of". Many people want just to be left alone. The majority of them know when the hour has come. Many of them appeared very brave at their execution. Others pay farewell to the loved one when they realize that they are dying. Out of the 3500 last words, I highlighted around 150 saying which I found interesting. I made them visible to all Goodreads users.
Interesting but very long
Out of these last words reported in this book, many people appeared to become religious at their deathbed, others appears confused and see things that no one but them see it as it is in the case of the Irish poet William Allingham when he woke up from a brief semicoma and exclaimed:" I see such things as you can not dream of". Many people want just to be left alone. The majority of them know when the hour has come. Many of them appeared very brave at their execution. Others pay farewell to the loved one when they realize that they are dying. Out of the 3500 last words, I highlighted around 150 saying which I found interesting. I made them visible to all Goodreads users.
Interesting but very long
December 5, 2018
Extremely useful for my research of NOT YET.
December 1, 2012
This book is different from other last words books in that it's a reference book - not a joke book.
It's definitely a worthwhile compilation as you get a lot of insight into the people themselves (thus the title). The author gives you a short bio on them and on the means of their demise. Not to mention the fact that he cites his sources and tells you if they are dubious or if there are variations on the last words (which are also provided).
If you are interested in history and not just in attempting to play the wit - though it's good for that too, this is the book for you.
Although the hard cover edition is admittedly expensive, I encourage people to check out the kindle edition which is only 10$.
My personal favorite is "Gentleman of the jury, you may retire" from Charles Abbott.
It's definitely a worthwhile compilation as you get a lot of insight into the people themselves (thus the title). The author gives you a short bio on them and on the means of their demise. Not to mention the fact that he cites his sources and tells you if they are dubious or if there are variations on the last words (which are also provided).
If you are interested in history and not just in attempting to play the wit - though it's good for that too, this is the book for you.
Although the hard cover edition is admittedly expensive, I encourage people to check out the kindle edition which is only 10$.
My personal favorite is "Gentleman of the jury, you may retire" from Charles Abbott.
March 16, 2015
I love these kinds of books, and this one was very well done!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews