{"product_id":"the-pessimists-guide-to-history-3e-an-irresistible-compendium-of-catastrophes-barbarities-massacres-and-mayhem-from-14-billion-years-ago-to-2007-9780061431012","title":"The Pessimist's Guide to History 3e: An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem--From 14 Billion Years Ago to 2007","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe classic irreverent look at the past--now updated with even more appalling facts \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourteen billion or so years ago, the Big Bang exploded--and it's been downhill from there. For every spectacular discovery throughout history, there have been hundreds of devastating epidemics; for every benevolent despot, a thousand like Vlad the Impaler; for every cup half-full, a larger cup half-empty. This enthralling, enlightening, and devilishly entertaining chronicle of disasters and dastardly deeds brings to light the darkest events in history and the most abysmal calamities to strike the planet . . . so far.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e88 BC: Mithridates VI Eupator provides an early example of genocide by massacring 100,000 Romans.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1347: Saint Vitus' Dance Epidemic shimmies across Europe like a deadly disco fever, leaving its victims twitching, uncontrollably leaping, and foaming at the mouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1888: Jack the Ripper stalks through the dark alleys of Whitechapel, England, turning the world's oldest profession into the world's most dangerous one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1939: A Swiss chemist wins a Nobel Prize for developing DDT--and the environment gets another nail in the coffin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast. In a classic double whammy, the government response also devastates the Gulf Coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd much, much more \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFlexner, Doris:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner are popular reference historians. Doris Flexner, who did all the updates on this book, is also the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Optimist's Guide to History.\u003c\/em\u003e She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFlexner, Stuart Berg:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner are popular reference historians. Doris Flexner, who did all the updates on this book, is also the author of \u003cem\u003eThe Optimist's Guide to History.\u003c\/em\u003e She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50409447522578,"sku":"9780061431012","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_5f8e79d9-1143-43a6-a604-473f8864b505.jpg?v=1729287705","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-pessimists-guide-to-history-3e-an-irresistible-compendium-of-catastrophes-barbarities-massacres-and-mayhem-from-14-billion-years-ago-to-2007-9780061431012","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}