Napoleon's Hemorrhoids: And Other Small Events that Changed History

People who like history in brief bites will enjoy this book. It contains a couple of hundred snippets about how chance events shaped history. The examples chosen are British-centric, so American readers won't be familiar with many references.Nonetheless, there are a variety of fascinating stories, a few of which are listed below:* Alfred Nobel's will creating the prizes named after him was challenged after his death by his family, who didn't want to lose their inheritance. Because the Nobel family lost in court, the Nobel name is known far and wide.* Marco Polo became known to history only because he spent a year in a Genoan jail with an inquisitive cell mate, who took notes about Polo's travels and published them.* The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Universal Exposition. The building was licensed to occupy the site for 20 years, after which it was to be demolished. In 1909, city officials were persuaded by French telegraph officials that the tower was a useful transmitting beacon due to a single radio antenna at the summit.* According to an authorized biography, when Ronald Reagan was a 27-year-old actor in 1938, he applied to join the Communist Party USA, which some of his closest Hollywood friends had joined. The Party rejected him.* The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked World War I. It occurred when the driver of his vehicle made a wrong turn, right past the café where the assassin was having coffee. When the driver put the vehicle in reverse, the assassin took his opportunity.* US Grant had been invited the Lincolns to the Ford Theatre the night of Lincoln's assassination. Grant cancelled that day, which may have saved his life since he was also a target.* The belief that spinach has unusual strength-building properties stemmed from a decimal point error. In 1870, a scientist measuring the iron in vegetables put the decimal point in the wrong place, overstating the iron content by a factor of ten. The error was not discovered until the 1930s -- after Popeye cartoons had propagated the myth.* Kokura was the Japanese city originally targeted for the second atomic bomb in 1945. Cloudiness and smoke over the city led to the secondary target of Nagasaki.* Matchbox miniature cars were inspired in 1950, when the designer's daughter complained about a school rule: children were not allowed to have any toy in school that would not fit into a matchbox. Jack Odell made her a miniature car, which led to Matchbox cars, one of the most popular toys in the 1950s and 1960s.We underestimate the role that chance plays in our lives and in history because it's more comforting to believe we have more control than we do. This book provides many memorable anecdotes of how tiny acts of chance shaped significant events. ###

I had to skip a lot of the British Prime Minister and British sports… I had no idea who the people were and I’m still not really sure what cricket is anyway. That being said, there’s plenty of other interesting trivia in the book and I would definitely recommend reading to anyone… Cricket notwithstanding!

Came across this book while searching Amazon for a biography extremely unrelated. Clicked on it simply because of the title. I knew it would be perfect for a friend of mine who loves books regarding history. I bought it for him as a birthday gift. He couldn't put it down. I read a few pages and ordered TWO more (one for me & one for another friend who is a history buff). Can't wait to receive mine. J highly recommend

This is a gift for my husband, a history buff, with a weird since of humor. He accidentally looked in the Amazon box, and is looking forward to getting this for Christmas.

I enjoyed the premise of the book: that major historical events are often the result of luck (good and back luck). Yet, I found the author’s word choices distracting, so much so that I decided to stop reading the chapter on major deaths and assassinations and write this review!So here I go...1) When discussing American history, I notice a general disrespect for US presidents, for example: (speaking of the Kennedy assassination) “The second, deadly strike, blew his brains out.”2) In another instance (three pages later) the use of idioms made it difficult to understand what truly happened: (explaining how Lenin’s assassin got to his target) “He had been let through the usual security checks because Trotsky’s bodyguards had been busy belatedly bolting the stable door after the earlier attack: they had been installing an up-to-date security system.” I read this passage multiple times, but still have questions because of the lack of precision in the author’s writing. Where were the bodyguard’s at the time of the attack? What security system was being installed? Why would installing this system not allow the bodyguards to also guard Trotsky? If the purpose of the book is to provide unique details, why not mention that Trotsky turned around to read an article to the man, which presented the opportunity for the assassination?3) Due to lack of clarity in writing, the author implies inaccuracies to history. The author says that the assassin of Archduke Ferdinand, thinking the bombing attempt was a success, looked up from where he was “sitting drinking his celebratory coffee,” saw the Archduke and shot him. Cool story, but not factual, at least not based on what I have read (such as the judicial hearing testimony of the assassin). A lot of the details of the stories feel more like artistic liberties than historical accuracies.

A great read for trivia buffs. British centric for the most part, but full of short, fun, and interesting stories.

All of these pithy, riveting, varied facts of near misses, choices made, close calls, and wrong turns is totally absorbing!

The book is filled with wonderful stories, all parts of the world's history, It is a joy to read and in but sized pieces, History made fun. Enjoy!

Ah! I bought this book because of the 'hilarious' title. I still have 4 hours left to read - but I must say that occasionally I thought I might not finish it. I have changed my mind! I will finish it. Even if not organized within a timeline - it jumps back and forth between centuries - but there is a lot of unknown, half-forgotten or forgotten information. Especially for writers of historical fiction (or even non-fiction). Some info makes you wonder, some other makes you say to someone, "did you know..." and lots of it can be related to present-day happenings. So, I'll keep on reading when I am not writing and let you know what I think when finished.I actually think that the author, Phil Mason, earned more than 3 stars for the incredible research he has done to unearth all the information he presents. It makes me smile when I think how valuable this book would be for "Trivia Contestants!" How else could you find so much information bundled in one book? If it's politics, sports or business or how certain toys, Matchbox cars, Monopoly, Scrabble or Bingo came to be or even how MacDonalds surfaced or learning more about actors and actresses of the olden days, it's all there - and more!It is not a heavy-duty book - but worth the time to read it if you don't expect earth-shattering revelations. And, heh, if you are interested to register for a trivia contest, you need this book!

The first half of the book is fun to read. Interesting. The last of the book is not as interesting. For the lover of trivia, it is a must read.

Too focused on BritainOverall an interesting read but I found it too focused on Great Britain,Too much about soccer, cricket and other British history which I found relevant since I live in North America .Yes there are things about other parts of the world in the book, but I found that I was skipping pages and sometimes whole chapters at a time.If I had known in advance how heavily it was weighted to GB, I probably would have passed on buying it.

I bought this book based on its catchy title. And boy, did I love reading it! Not only is it entertaining read, it is also educational. Where else can you find a book which at once gives you a good giggle, and increase your knowledge simultaneously.I strongly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Facts that one would never know and very well put. I like this book better than any I have read this year. :)