I love this series of books. You can totally read through it in an afternoon or bring it out from time to time to chew on a new story or fact.

I bought this book for my 15 year old son who loves quirky historical facts. He absolutely loved it, and shared most of the stories with us, sparking my own interest. I will definitely read it myself.

It's written in very short story format with just enough details to flesh out the facts, making it a very easy read, and one that you can pick up and put down as you please.

I got this book for my dad because he always knows random stuff and he loves watching the history channel. He's not a huge reader but he really liked this book. It's perfect because the stories are pretty short and to the point so it's not too much reading about each story.

This was a fun, easy to read book. Some of the things written seemed to me to be common knowledge. But others amazed me, like:

-Christopher Columbus did not have to convince anyone that the world was round. It was common knowledge at that time. The "world is flat" was added to the story by Washington Irving hundreds of years later!

-The ancient Olympics were originally cancelled by a Roman emporor who converted to Christianity and felt the games were glorifying Greek gods. The idea to re-enstate them in 1896 came from a French man who wanted the French people to be physically fit to face war with Germany.

-Baseball was invented by the British.
-Croissants are Austrian.
-St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, was an English slave.

Those are just some of the cool things you will learn in this book. The author also lists all his sources, making it easy to read more about the things you found particularly interesting.

Pleasant reading and I learned a lot of unknown facts in history. Very Enjoyable

great book for someone with a short attention span! each story is only 2 pages with pictures!

I gave this to my brother for Christmas. I have to admit I read some of it before giving it to him. It was very fasinating information. Perfect for someone who loves history.

I gave this book as a gift to both my father and husband and they raved about how great it was!

A great little book to have around for a quick few minutes of reading. The stories are presented in a short form that provide just enough reading to fill a boring few minutes.

I devoured this book in one sitting! What fun to learn obscure facts! If you enjoy learning the quirky side of history, you'll love all of these books.

For what it is, this was a very informative book of little bits of historical facts. I was hoping for a little more in depth look at some of the things contained, but overall, I thought it was very well done. I did notice some small errors within the book, but nothing that takes away from the book as a whole. I did enjoy the book, and think it could be a great book even for younger readers, or parents and children together.

I enjoyed this little book, it has interesting little pieces of history not well known. I didn't sit down and read the whole thing I read one story a day until I'd read the whole thing. The book is in sequence by years and it goes back to the beginning of some of the things we take for granted today I liked learning those little details about the people who were important in those days. I just wish there were more stories I looked forward to reading a little piece of interesting history everyday.

A great book for someone with a short attention span or people who can only spare a second or two here and there to read. People interested in history will love this book, as would those interested in trivia. Also would recommend for kids who are working on oral reading fluency.

This book has been a lot of fun to read and share with friends. I usually think history is boring, but this book makes it interesting.

"The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy" by Rick Beyer is a fun little book with some fascinating tidbits from history.

I must admit I was disappointed by the size of the book. It's pretty small, so although there are 100 entries, each entry is only three to four paragraphs long. You can easily finish reading the entire book in an hour or two.

Anyway, the stories are very interesting and range in subject, from historical events to great moments in sports, medicine, science, and so on. Examples of subject matter include the first dog in space (before man, mind you), the restructuring of the calendar as we know it, the creation of microwaves, the inventor of the guillotine, Thomas Edison's introduction of the electric chair, the death of Attila the Hun, how a Booth saved the life of a Lincoln (as opposed to assassinating him), the most powerful pirate ever (hint: she was a woman), and the origins of penicillin. A majority of the stories seem to concern Unites States history.

To me, this book is a teaser, wetting your appetite to find out more. That's what I did. As soon as I finished "The Greatest Stories Never Told," I started looking up books on some of the topics that intrigued me (sadly, I couldn't find anything on Louis Braille).

All in all, "Greatest" is a good gift book, especially for younger people. The text is easy to read, the stories are enjoyable, and there are plenty of photos/pictures to help the imagination. It really helps history come alive.

"The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy" by Rick Beyer is a fun little book with some fascinating tidbits from history.

I must admit I was disappointed by the size of the book. It's pretty small, so although there are 100 entries, each entry is only three to four paragraphs long. You can easily finish reading the entire book in an hour or two.

Anyway, the stories are very interesting and range in subject, from historical events to great moments in sports, medicine, science, and so on. Examples of subject matter include the first dog in space (before man, mind you), the restructuring of the calendar as we know it, the creation of microwaves, the inventor of the guillotine, Thomas Edison's introduction of the electric chair, the death of Attila the Hun, how a Booth saved the life of a Lincoln (as opposed to assassinating him), the most powerful pirate ever (hint: she was a woman), and the origins of penicillin. A majority of the stories seem to concern Unites States history.

To me, this book is a teaser, wetting your appetite to find out more. That's what I did. As soon as I finished "The Greatest Stories Never Told," I started looking up books on some of the topics that intrigued me (sadly, I couldn't find anything on Louis Braille).

All in all, "Greatest" is a good gift book, especially for younger people. The text is easy to read, the stories are enjoyable, and there are plenty of photos/pictures to help the imagination. It really helps history come alive.

I struggled to find the perfect gift for my love for Christmas. He knows quite a lot about history and I wanted something he would be sure to find "new". HE LOVES THIS BOOK. It is full of much trivia-like facts about many different hints of the past dating back to the 1800's. I think I scored big on this one! He was enthralled. Not being such a lover of this type of reading material, I actually found this book quite enjoyable myself. Each story about an historical event is about 2 pages in length. Not too much, but right to the point. Entertaining.

What a great little book! Based on a series of History Minutes developed to air on The History Channel, every two-page spread of this little gem provides a short, easy-to-read and very interesting story-behind-the-story that most of us don't know.

The most interesting of these 100 brief stories are those in which one decision by one person ended up changing history and life as we know it, even today. Some of those include:
* Lost in Translation - where a poor word choice caused the first use of the atom bomb.
* BA-BUMP Goes the Stethoscope - about the doctor who invented it out of modesty.
* Cooking With Radar - about the invention of the microwave oven.

But the mix of story themes also keeps this book interesting, including insights into people we know by name without knowing much about them, like Proctor and Gamble, John Harvey Kellogg, Lionel of Lionel Trains fame, James Bond, and many more.

I also enjoyed it because it's easy to read 2 or 3 stories during lunch or just before dozing off at night. And, at the risk of sounding like a commercial, it's a great gift for kids who love to read because they'll have the inside scoop on many, many popular cutlure stories that their friends (and often teachers) won't know.

Enjoy.

Some simply amazing stories. My ten-year old son chose this book for his "bedtime reading". Educational AND Entertaining.

This is the most fun to read and 'trivia contest' your friends with!

This book gives little snippets of history information. Each subject gets a few short, well-written paragraphs, plus a few accompanying illustrations. A lot of the stories are of the "If he'd only turned left instead of right, history would be different" genre.

This book has several limitations. For one thing, its view of "history" is pretty limited: most of the book involves events that took place in the last two centuries, mostly in or involving the United States, and mostly involving white men. Most of the stories are about inventions or war. The second limitation is that it's an overstatement to say these stories where "never told." I'd heard many before, and quite a few are common knowledge. Third, the entries are very brief and, while the author does cite his sources, he does not give any other resources for more information.

All that having been said, the entries are light and entertaining, and I did certainly learn some new things. Most trivia fans would probably enjoy this book.

I received this book when I joined one of those bookclubs, this was one of the two books they sent me for free.

It's quite good, an interesting 200 + pages of little known history.
My favourites are, Heddy Lamar was a beauty and a genius, the dead man who fooled Hitler, Einsten was disgusted when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, George Washington was actually the 8th president.

This book would make a great gift for students, graduates, and history buffs.

Wonderful, interesting and little known stories and facts about history. Great for an activator for History class!

"The Greatest Stories Never Told" will amuse and entertain you because of the simple style in which it is written. It is a small book with about one page written on each of the one hundred stories and a page of photos next to each story. It is a quick and fun read that can be read by people of almost every reading age. Although the book may not be totally be accurate as one historian reviewer pointed out, I found the book to be an entertaining read. For instance, do you know on whom the story of Dracula is based? Do you know why the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? Do you know what caused Watergate? Pick up this book to find out the answers to these questions and much more!

We all know about the famous stories in history that made history...but what about the not-so-famous ones that still made history? Many of them are right here in this wonderfully assembled book of anecdotes that will surely make you pause to reflect on the very nature of causality, fate and the unanswerable question of 'what if...?" Well done! I bought three for the historians in my own family!

Assisted by historians at Harvard and Boston University and librarians at the National Archives and Library of Congress, this book is well-researched and visually rich. But it's also colorful and snappy, a testament to how lively history can be in the hands of someone who truly loves it. Beyer gives us 100 bite-size histories, tasty morsels that are curiously strong. My 11 year old son devoured several stories in one sitting; I consumed the book in one weekend. From events that changed nations...to inventions that changed the world, this collection is a joy, a real page-turner.

I'm an avid reader of history, as well as processing a degree in the subject. So imagine my surprise when, after receiving this book from a friend of mine for Christmas, I read the erroneous account of the Children's Crusade of 1212. I had done research on this topic, so I was horrified to read the completely inaccurate account of what occurred. Had the author not read any historical analysis on the subject from the last 50 years? If he had, he would have realized that there were actually two crusades - one consisting of mainly French people led by Stephen of Cloyes who, when told to turn back by King Philip II, did so. That ended that crusade. The other one, led by a shepherd from Germany named Nicholas, led a group across the Alps into Italy. Some left for home while others continued on to Rome. It's interesting to note that in Rome, many received dispensations from their crusading vows because these "children" were either too old or because they were pregnant. Perhaps until relatively recently, people believed in the Children's Crusade because it represented a morality play or because some historians gave too much credit to chronicles (like Chronica Albrici monachi Trium Fontium) which were written long after the crusade supposedly occurred, rather than relying on more contemporary sources. Nor did they realize that the latin word "pueri" used in the chronicles can have several meanings (such as unmarried men rather than children).

In the final analysis, you just can't rely on books like these to really teach you history. The best you can do is read what they tell you and then try to verify it. If only the author had bothered to check the History Channel's own account of the Children's Crusade on their website, or perhaps read the excellent paper done by Peter Raedts in the Journal of Medieval History, or even just checked out the brief but accurate entry online in wikipedia. The book gave two pages to this event, and sadly got it completely wrong.

For this gross oversight, I am compelled to give it one star. Readers of history, never just believe what you read - verify.

This is a fun little book for anyone from 8 to 80,who likes to read history.It is more like the kind of stuff you see in Ripley's Believe it or Not,Strange but True,Interesting Facts,etc.There are 100 stories covered in 200 pages and half of that is pictures.One can skip through this book in an hour or two without difficulty.I guess most people would find it just a light read;but there is a real good reference section for anyone who wants to see the source or basis of any of these stories.
Stories are from all over the map and cover from B.C.to the present time .Some of the things you'll find:

Saint Patrick was an Englishman by birth.

The music for "The Star-Spangled Banner" was from a popular
English drinking song.

Where did the term "boycott"come from?

Did you know a US Warship fired a torpeo at another Warship carrying President Roosevelt, missing it by about 100 yards.

How a dead man duped Hitler.

And that's just for starters!

Oh Yeah, My title was a statement made by Tolstoy;who knew a thing or two about history.Then again,who knows,maybe he didn't say that at all.

I don't usually veer into the land of "interesting facts" books, choosing instead to buy some tried and true bestseller like "Angels & Demons" or "The Bark of the Dogwood" instead. So it was with trepedation that I purchased this book. Boy, am I glad I did! This is fantastic! Forget what you learned (or didn't) in school--this is the way to go. Some really, really fascinating things in here and you can astonish your friends and family with these juicy tidbits. Informative and well written, this book also makes a GREAT gift.

This was an interesting book and a quick read. However, each item only has one page (one side) of information, and this book would have earned a five star review from me if only the content was a bit more fleshed out. Still, a great book for the beginner trivia buff.

In the past, I have typically not been one for advocating the idea of revising history as we know it, but this book has caused me to wonder if the lessons from the past that have been taught to so many of us have amounted to a series of partially distorted articles, at best, or a pack of lies, at worst.

In one account, there was a leading nineteenth-century American literary figure who wrote a fictional work on one of the most famous explorers from the late 1400's. It portrayed this particular individual as mainly a visionary who overcame the superstitions of his time in order to make great discoveries. Though this picture might be partly true, a key issue brought forth was entirely fictional. Nevertheless, this particular book became very popular as a required reading for schoolchildren and over time, because of the heroic elements espoused, the tales were so popular that people wanted to believe them to be factual. Since then, this author's version of this explorer's events "would long endure in the national consciousness" and be immortalized as history as it actually happened. Talk about a paradox: to be regarded as someone who would go down in history as someone who overcame myths in such a way that it, itself, is another myth. Sheesh!!

Though many a fact finder might wish that this particular legend could be isolated as the only fairy tale that has been misconstrued for truth, The Greatest Stories Never Told reveals to the reader that this is not so. There are other accounts that show that our significant historical events are not always due to forthright purposes set out by forthcoming, stout individuals. Sometimes random elements come into play à la The Butterfly Effect that can have a significant impact upon the outcome of a war. For instance, without giving away the details, so little as one piece of paper might have prevented General George Washington's rise to greatness against the British.

In sum, The Greatest Stories Never Told is a fascinating book. In my opinion, it can set forth arguments and debates covering other specialized fields, especially philosophy, political science, physics, and theology. I have always been convinced that we have a tendency to portray history the way we want to either remember it or learn it, but the manner in which some of these bits and pieces have been espoused for decades and centuries is quite disturbing.

A very entertaining collection of stories of unusual events and people from history. Arranged chronologicaly, starting with the Romans who stole time, and proceeding through such enthralling tales as the man who didn't discover America because he wanted to get home,and king Edward II' valiant but futile attempt to ban soccer (now I know why he was murdered, it was enraged footer fans). Some cherished myths are briskly disposed of, like the notion that medieval people thought the world was flat, and we learn that the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock because they'd run out of beer. A few of the stories in this book were known to me already, most weren't. At $12.57, that's only about 12 cents per fascinating fact, cheap at the price I would say. Who would you say was the most unlikely person to have saved the life of Abraham Lincoln's son? If you don't know already you need to buy this book.

Beyer is an author who is dedicated to making history interesting and fun, which he does so well in this collection of one page stories. I found the book especially interesting because of the background work the author had put into his research (the imprint of the History Channel did not hurt either) which raised these tidbits above the normal trivia, or potential urban legends. Beyer highlights some things that should not be lost in the mists of history, and points out historical facts that may be glossed over in many other history books. There is nothing earth shattering here, but more than a few will make you scratch your head, or share with others in conversation. A great book for dipping your toe in history - each story is about a page of text and is well illustrated. There is just enough to get you the interesting point without boring you. It's a truly fun and fascinating book.

If you are starting your love affair with history, this is the book for you. The "tidbits" of history will take through the span of general history and will help you decide your likes and dislikes in history. This is also a good book for anyone who likes throwing around history factoids at dinner parties, luncheons, and other places. For the serious professional historian, this book will not provide a deep and thorough analysis of history, but as a serious historian myself, its a nice book for a bit of light reading.

If you are a freak for interesting tidbits about our kaleidoscopic world, this is a book I'd wager you'll read from cover to cover.

From the discovery of tobacco as a medicinal herb, to America's first president (no it may not have been Washington), to the invention of a stethoscope by a modest French doctor who didn't want to put his ear to the bosom of female patients, to the truth about the background of baseball (spoiler: its cricket for dummies, afterall :)), to the death of Attila the Hun which happened in quite a [boring] manner on his wedding night from a nosebleed while he was drunk, to a story of 3 cigars that may have helped the union side in the civil war....etc etc...this compilation is an absolute ripper.

It's chronicled sequentially from 46 BC to 1990 AD, very well researched (Beyer has worked with the Discovery and the History channels if I am not mistaken) and spiffy enough to open up on any page and get engrossed. Not the stuff of heavyweight history, this, but if this were taught in schools History just may have been the most popular period.

A highly recommended gem for your stash.

This is not a coffee-table book, it's a briefcase book, a bathroom book, a bedside book, a stuck-in-traffic book. It's a book for dads and kids, a book for teachers and students, a book for priests and ministers (great sermon material!), and a great gift for practically everyone. My personal favorite involves what Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp were doing during the 1920s--I won't give away the story but Wyatt was in Hollywood and Bat was in Manhattan! It's clear that the author is not a student of history, he's a lover of history, and the enthusiasm and excitement with which he approaches his subject comes through on every page.