The Pessimist's Guide to History 3e

<p>The classic irreverent look at the past--now updated with even more appalling facts!</p><p>Fourteen 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.</p><p>88 BC: Mithridates VI Eupator provides an early example of genocide by massacring 100000 Romans.</p><p>1347: Saint Vitus' Dance Epidemic shimmies across Europe like a deadly disco fever leaving its victims twitching uncontrollably leaping and foaming at the mouth.</p><p>1888: Jack the Ripper stalks through the dark alleys of Whitechapel England turning the world's oldest profession into the world's most dangerous one.</p><p>1939: A Swiss chemist wins a Nobel Prize for developing DDT--and the environment gets another nail in the coffin.</p><p>2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast. In a classic double whammy the government response also devastates the Gulf Coast.</p><p>And much much more!</p>