• The Mental Floss History of the World

  • An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits
  • By: Steve Wiegand, Erik Sass
  • Narrated by: Johny Heller
  • Length: 15 hrs and 30 mins
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Release date: 11-12-08
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Tantor Audio
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars 3.7 (420 ratings)

Regular price: $27.99

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Publisher's Summary

About 60,000 years ago, the first Homo sapiens were just beginning their move across the grasslands and up the ladder of civilization. Everything since then, as they say, is history. Just in case you were sleeping in class that day, the geniuses at mental_floss magazine have put together a hilarious (and historically accurate) primer on everything you need to know---and that means the good stuff. Twelve core chapters of world history tackle everything from civilization's baby steps in the Fertile Crescent to the Not-Really-That-Dark-Unless-You-Lived-in-Europe Ages to A World United by Terror and TV. From the Golden Haemorhoids of the Philistines (punishment from above) to the likely namesake of the cartoon elephant Babar (a Mongol prince) to the most pressing language translation issues facing the menus of today ("carp" vs. "crap"), all of history's most interesting bits have finally been handpicked and roasted to perfection.
©2008 Mental Floss LLC (P)2008 Tantor
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful
5 out of 5 stars
By Batman on 07-10-09

History can be entertaining.

This is not a book to be used for the scholarly study of history, but it is a great book for making you think about history and want to know more. I have listened to it twice, a little bit at a time and still enjoy it.

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10 of 10 people found this review helpful

3 out of 5 stars
By Jody on 04-10-09

Good, but not good enough

I found the format somewhat confusing, seeming to jump from topic to topic, then revisiting a topic mentioned earlier, etc. That might not be a problem with the print version, but when read from front to back, it is (for me, at least).

The reader is also somewhat problematic. He has plenty of 'melody' to his voice, but a great many idiosyncratic pronunciations, which I find jarring. For instance, 'paraBOla' rather than the usual 'paRAbola'. Also, there are several malapropisms, which could be the fault of the authors, or a misreading by the reader. For instance, 'neuron' when it should be 'neutron' or 'climactic' when it should be 'climatic'. Still, it is worth listening to just for fun.

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15 of 16 people found this review helpful

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