Discusses how small events impacted the outcomes of significant historical events, describing the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Battle of Waterloo, along with Adolph Hitler's real name, the almost stillbirth of Pablo Picasso, and more.

Collects obscure trivia about historical figures, from President Lyndon Johnson's poor phone etiquette to Albert Einstein's habit of forgetting his shoes.

“History is a Set of Lies Agreed Upon” is a collection of biographical sketches of the French military and political leader Napoléon Bonaparte, by various authors. Napoléon Bonaparte (1769–1821) was a French political and military leader during the Revolutionary Wars who ruled as Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815. Winning the vast amount of battles against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, he was able to establish a large empire covering continental Europe that lasted until its collapse in 1815. Napoléon is regarded as being among the greatest military commanders in history, and is still a celebrated yet controversial political figure. These fascinating biographical sketches offer details on various aspects of Napoléon's life, from his early military campaigns to the women who had most influence of his life. Highly recommended for those with an interest in the life of Napoléon Bonaparte and European history in general. Contents include: “The Death of Napoleon, by Isaac Mclellan”, “Napoleon I (Bonaparte), by Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges Goyau”, “Biographical Sketch, by Ida M. Tarbell”, “Napoleon — Man of the World, by Ralph Waldo Emerson”, “Napoleon Bonaparte, by Sarah Knowles Bolton”, “Napoleon and Marie Walewska, by Lyndon Orr”, “The Story of Pauline Bonaparte, by Lyndon Orr”, “Napoleon's Will”, and “Historic Doubts Relative to Napoleon Buonaparte, by Richard Whately”. Read & Co. History is proudly publishing this brand new collection complete with the poem “The Death of Napoleon” by Isaac Mclellan.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Misconceptions, misunderstandings, and flawed facts finally get the heave-ho in this humorous, downright humiliating book of reeducation based on the phenomenal British bestseller. Challenging what most of us assume to be verifiable truths in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more,The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of how little we actually know about anything. It’ll have you scratching your head wondering why we even bother to go to school. Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know! Check out The Book of General Ignorance for more fun entries and complete answers to the following: How long can a chicken live without its head? About two years. What do chameleons do? They don’t change color to match the background. Never have; never will. Complete myth. Utter fabrication. Total Lie. They change color as a result of different emotional states. How many legs does a centipede have? Not a hundred. How many toes has a two-toed sloth? It’s either six or eight. Who was the first American president? Peyton Randolph. What were George Washington’s false teeth made from? Mostly hippopotamus. What was James Bond’s favorite drink? Not the vodka martini.

The creators of the podcast The Dollop present illustrated profiles of the weird, outrageous, NSFW, and downright absurd tales from American history that you weren't taught in school. The United States of Absurdity presents short, informative, and hilarious stories of the most outlandish (but true) people, events, and more from United States history. Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds cover the weird stories you didn't learn in history class, such as 10-Cent Beer Night, the Jackson Cheese, and the Kentucky Meat Shower, accompanied by full-page illustrations that bring each historical "milestone" to life in full-color.

The New York Times–bestselling author of How to Make a Spaceship presents the remarkable, uplifting story of a life-saving medical breakthrough. In 1951 in Sydney, Australia, a fourteen-year-old boy named James Harrison was near death when he received a transfusion of blood that saved his life. A few years later, and half a world away, a shy young doctor at Columbia University realized he was more comfortable in the lab than in the examination room. Neither could have imagined how their paths would cross, or how they would change the world. In Good Blood, Julian Guthrie tells the gripping tale of the race to cure Rh disease, a horrible blood disease that caused a mother’s immune system to attack her own unborn child. The story is anchored by two very di?erent men on two continents: Dr. John Gorman in New York, who would land on a brilliant yet contrarian idea, and an unassuming Australian whose almost magical blood—and his unyielding devotion to donating it—would save millions of lives. Good Blood takes us from research laboratories to hospitals, and even into Sing Sing prison, where experimental blood trials were held. It is a tale of discovery and invention, the progress and pitfalls of medicine, and the everyday heroics that fundamentally changed the health of women and babies.