Famous Last Words

by Jonathan Green

Over 2,000 notable parting sentiments, from Socrates and the Marquis de Sade to James Dean and Elvis Presley. This sometimes funny, frequently moving compilation offers a glimpse at the deathbed departures of kings, courtiers, poets, painters, saints, villains, murderers, and martyrs through the ages. Among the famous last words are Bing Crosby's breezy ``That was a great game of golf, fellers''; Lawrence Oates' farewell to Captain Scott on his ill-fated expedition to the South ``I'm just going out. I may be some time...'' and Civil War commander General Sedgewick's final ``They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--'' A fascinating record of our final thoughts at the brink of the unimaginable. Jonathon Green is a noted lexicographer and the author of many books, including Slang Down the Ages. 160 pp 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 200 b/w photos & illustrations

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Jonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than seventy books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO, Judge Dredd and Robin of Sherwood.

He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.

To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.

Reviews

[ka fi de · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reference book. It's not something that I usually pick up but I thought that I'd give it a shot.

I would've wanted to love this because the idea is amazing. I can see why Miles from Looking for Alaska was enthralled with knowing people's last words because it's interesting to know.

I understand that this book is old and the edition I have is as updated as it'll get but a lot of the people in here are people I've never encountered before. It's not the books fault, it's me. There's no instance that I think everyone will know these many people. So I'm not mad. This book and I just didn't click.

There were a lot of standouts. And I'd like to highlight them!

(I won't transpose the actual quotes mostly because my favourite one is half a page long so I'm just putting all their names here and if you want to look them up then all g)

Sir Charles Bell
Robert Brookings
Alice Poet
Samuel Johnson
James K. Polk
Elizabeth I
Wing Commander Paddy Finucane
The seven Maccabaeus brothers (my favourite)
Cherokee Bill
Carl Panzram
Niccolo Machiavelli
Arthur Stanley
Ethel Waters
Sir James M. Barrie
Lola Montez
Saint Agatha
Vincent Van Gogh
Brian Piccolo
Edgar Allan Poe
William Pope
Jose Rizal y Alonso
Paul Bern
Solomon Rosbach
George Sanders
Virginia Woolf

That's actually quite a bit. Those are the highlights. Research them if you want to.

I'm going back to fiction now.

[Beorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a macabre idea but an interesting read nonetheless compiling the last known words of a great deal of people of renown from various walks of life from politicians, kings and leaders to actors, activists and poets.

Remarkably intriguing for those people in here I knew of and the slightly bizarre, highly poetic or just plain odd ways they shuffled off this mortal coil. There's quite a lot of people in here that I haven't a clue who they are but that's no reason to knock the book itself.

Some of it seems a bit spurious in that it's the person's last known public words - ie last letter to a loved one, last orders issued etc - rather than the ones definitively last to exit their mouth. There is the inclusion of what read like suicide notes too which is definitely grim reading, especially Tony Hancock's.

My particular favourites:
Henry VIII - "Monks! Monks! Monks!"
Septimus Severus - "Little urn, you will soon contain all of whom that the world could not"
and
HG Wells - "Leave me alone, I'm alright!"
Karl Marx, on being asked by his nurse if he had any last words, "Leave me alone! Last words are for people who haven't said enough!"


A neat little reference point if you're interested in quotes, epitaphs or any such like.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the last words of a hundreds of famous people. There's historical figures, actors, writers, soldiers, artists, poets and criminals. Great to dip in and out of whenver you feel like it. Some of the quotes will bring a tear to your eye, others will make you laugh. Some will just send shivers up your spine. I have a strange sense of humour, so this book really did appeal.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poignant, morbidly fascinating. These are the final words of hundreds of people, both famous and infamous. They range from profound, historic, heartbreaking, spiritual to witty, irreverent and even sarcastic.

[Andreas Michaelides · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of the book says it all; it’s a very interesting collection of famous people or some not so famous people final words or phrases.

[Stephen Cranney]

Kind of fun, but got surprisingly boring fast.