A Shite History of Nearly Everything [Paperback]

History holds great fascination;but I don't mean the stuff they fed you in school.A.Parody takes us into the wilderness of history and covers things that you will never hear about in "an Approved Curriculum" that you were subjected to in what is passed off as History.It is unbelievable, that the "halls of learning" have managed to take a subject that is so interesting and turn it into a dreadful experience for students.If you doubt what I am saying;just think how utterly bored students were in any of your History classes--see!!
In this entertaining and interesting little tome,Parody covers hundreds of interesting facts,people,events and other historical things that you never heard of in your History classes.
I can remember ,many years ago,taking a course in Ancient History that was covering who and what civilizations invented what.The teacher had actually drawn my attention away from one of the girls in the class;and I began to ask myself,with all these inventions,I wonder who atually invented the wheel.When the teacher asked, if there were any questions,and received blank stares and silence,I interrupted the tranquility by asking,"Who invented the wheel?" The teacher was surprised by my question,and weakly replied,that it was not mentioned in the book.I suggested that it was a big ommission,because I think it was mankind's greatest invention.Well;In this book you'll find the answer.
Wait until you read "Less Begatting,Please" on page 67.Here is where you will really find out the history of birth control,and none of it was ever taught in school.
To show you how convoluted and uninformative history can be;you will be amazed by some of the quotes from no less than Albert Einstein,such as this,"If my theory of relativity is proven successful,Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world.Should my theory prove untrue,France will say thatI am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew."
Now, just about everyone thinks that a fellow by the name of Crapper (1836-1910)invented the toilet.Even something as mundane as toilets can be interesting historically,and Parody has some different aspects of history for us here. There is evidence of primitive drains and cesspits dating back to 6000BC.In the ruins of King Minos,s palace of Crete in 1500BC,flushing toilets have been found . In Victorian times,up to 180 people used the same privy every day.(that works out to 8 minutes for each person,based on 24 hour use,probably necessitating a need for speedreading.)And even today 40 percent of the world's population lacks indoor plumbing.
History books go to great detail in explaining how the English defeated the Spanish Armada.That is a lot of BS,! Parody tells the real story.In 1588,a major storm sank most of the Spanish Armada,killing an estimated 20,000 sailors.As a further point of interest,I was visiting an old graveyard in Galway ,Ireland and found to my surprise,that one of the Spanish Armadaships was wrecked in a storm off the west coast of Ireland,trying to return home.Some of the sailors managed to scramble ashore,but the British captured them and murdered them all and buried them in a mass grave.A plaque is there for you to see. This is hardly the glorious battle we learned about in History class.
As the old saying goes;Truth is stranger than fiction", maybe the History books should be placed in the Fiction section of our libraries.
This little book will give you many facts of history,that you're unlikely to find in the standard history books.Who says history is dull? Help other

This is based on the samples made available in the 'Search Inside' section.

There appears to be a reason why no author takes credit for this piece of garbage, because they'd be run out of town tarred and feathered. Who thought it was a good idea to parody scientific thought, trying to compare it with the Bible and its fictional version of creation. If this is attacking Mr. Bryson's superior book, then it has failed. No where in the better book was there an attack on religious fiction, in fact openings were left to fit in the crackpot beliefs espoused on the pulpits.