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Title details for Napoleon's Hemorrhoids by Phil Mason - Available

Napoleon's Hemorrhoids

And Other Small Events That Changed History

by Phil Mason
ebook
1 of 2 copies available
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1 of 2 copies available
Hilarious, fascinating, and a roller coaster of dizzying, historical what-ifs, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is a potpourri for serious historians and casual history buffs. In one of Phil Mason's many revelations, you'll learn that Communist jets were two minutes away from opening fire on American planes during the Cuban missile crisis, when they had to turn back as they were running out of fuel. You'll discover that before the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's painful hemorrhoids prevented him from mounting his horse to survey the battlefield. You'll learn that an irate blacksmith threw his hammer at a fox and missed, hitting a rock and revealing the largest vein of silver ever discovered, thus changing the finances of Canada forever. Interestingly, Charlton Heston was cast as Moses in The Ten Commandments because his broken nose made him look like Michelangelo's famous sculpture of Moses. Finally, no one knows Einstein's last words. They were in German, a language his nurse did not speak.
A treasure trove filled with fascinating anecdotes about the tiny ripples that created big waves in history, Napoleon's Hemorrhoids is much more than just a trivial fact book; it is an astonishing historical-fate book revealing how our most famous incidents, best-loved works of art, and most accepted historical outcomes are simply twists of fate.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 1, 2009

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781628731392

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781628731392
      • File size: 1280 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 31, 2009
      In this collection of historical anecdotes, author Mason illustrates how the smallest details can have far-reaching historical consequences-or at least that seems to be the idea; in execution, there is no commentary, causal connection or even source identification that legitimizes any of Mason's information (he's known as a massive collector of "cuttings and books chronicling the weird and the strange"), so while many stories are funny or remarkable, they're little better than gossip. Despite a repetitive format, Mason writes well, and readers looking for pithy historical trivia to share with friends will be satisfied. Aimed at a U.K. audience, Mason tends toward topics like British royalty and the nuances of cricket, but there's enough conversational ammunition here for a cocktail party on either side of the Atlantic.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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