Ignorance is Blitz: Mangled Moments of History From Actual College Students

by Anders Henriksson

Now in chunky format, the funniest book ever written about the history of Western Civilization. Originally published under the title Non Campus Mentis , this book made four national bestseller lists— The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post , and BookSense ; has 200,000 copies in print; and garnered praise from across the country: "Glorious . . . equal-opportunity idiocy for every era."— Philadelphia Enquirer . "A horrifically hilarious compendium . . . knitting together errors, assumptions, and creative fact-making that are shocking and hysterical."— Associated Press . "You'll laugh until you cry, shedding tears for the state of American education."— Baltimore Sun .

Compiled by Professor Anders Henriksson from the term papers and blue book exams of students who clearly made it to college before the advent of "No Child Left Behind," Ignorance Is Blitz is unput-downable. You won't believe what you just read, and won't want to wait to see what's coming next, from the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Contraption to Pericles' greatest erection, the Parthenonon to Custard's Last Stand to Hitler shooting himself in the Bonker and Martin Luther King's ground-breaking speech, "If I Had a Hammer." And who knew: Caesar was assassinated on the Yikes of March, when he is reported to have said, "Me too, Brutus." Rasputin was a pheasant by birth. Victims of the black plague grew boobs on their neck. Judyism had one big God named Yahoo. Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize for inventing the radiator. And "During the Dark Ages, it was mostly dark."

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, History

155 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2008

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

We bought this one for 50 cents at the library, and let me tell you--this book is hilarity in book form! We've picked up quite a few "new words" such as pesticule, grundled, and corrupulated. The misinterpretation of history are laugh out loud funny--"Cesar was assassinated on th Yikes of March where he reportedly said 'Me too, Brutus!'" or "The four classes of people are upper class, middle class, working class, and lowest poor scum." Read this book-you'll be glad you did. (Anguished English is another, similar, great read.) :D

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot tell you how many times I winced while reading this book. It is the worst bits of college history essays. Everything they got wrong, not slightly wrong, really wrong. I majored in history and I had to read this book sporadically the mistakes were too much at times, though they were funny. Parts were so bad I wanted to believe that the author made them up, but then I remembered how bad some of the forum posts were for my online history classes and had to admit that they were most likely real. If you need a gag gift for the history major, teacher or enthusiast in your life this would be a good one.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious book, but then you stop and think, these kids are the future of society (actually, considering when the book was published, these students are pretty much my age), at which point you can only wish for the best.

[C.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for laughs! Some of the student mistakes are so hilariously awful, and the book's chronological organization and side-splitting maps are great features. I gave it 4 stars because it can get a little repetitive after a while, but Ignorance is Blitz is great laugh therapy. :)

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the tradition of _1066 and All That_, this collection lampoons ignorant (or panicked) students of history.

[Spuddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of bloopers from college term papers, specifically dealing with history, from ancient times to near-modern history. Spelling errors, grammatical errors, misuse of words, punctuation and especially concepts--all things that drive me right up a tree. So a whole book of them? Made me laugh my butt off. I learned rather quickly that I could not read it while eating lunch. LOL

I like the 'Anguished English' books as those are examples taken from high school and the world at large. The people writing these papers actually made it into college. Though heaven only knows how!

A few of my favorites: "Judyism was the first monolithic religion. It had one big god named Yahoo." "The wholey Roman Empire amazed many when it was found in Germany." "The invention of the sex tent helped to determine place and orientation at sea."

It's best read in small bits, otherwise it can tend to get overwhelming. Plus, you'll strain something laughing too much for too long if you read it all at once. :o)

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and its precursor, Non Campus Mentis: World History According to College Students are some of the funniest writing I've read in years. I've heard rumors that parts of this book have been fabricated rather than found in actual college student writings but those complaints are of little importance. When one realizes that there's a world of difference between "the Truth" and what actually happened, the world can be a happier place. If history didn't happen like this... it should have.

Read and enjoy. But not while eating or drinking anything.

[Andrew J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a grad student in European History, and I had to grade the essays written by Elementary Ed undergrads for a survey of European History course. I can testify that this funny, funny book contains some painful truths. I even hav a few items I could have added.
Ex: "The cause of World War One was a lot of fighting between different countries." (This is part of an answer on a an essay test.)
What could I do but mark this with "Good point!" ?

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband bought this book while we were on vacation, and we just about laughed till we cried. The author is the chair of the history department of Shepherd College in WV, and he complied this book of quotes beginning with the "stoned age" from actual tests and papers of his students. If you love history at all and you enjoy laughing, this book is for you.

[Andy Mitchell]

This book left me feeling superior until I got to the "Quiz: So You Think You're So Smart" section at the end of the book.

It was like being the dopey guy on Jay Walking with Jay Lenno. I knew almost nothing.

[Kathryn]

In case I need some catharsis when school's out! ;->

[Fiore · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books when it comes to humor. Each little snip of writing is a beauty. My husband and I ended up reading aloud much of it to each other in fits of laughter.

[Leah Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of college essay bloopers. It's absolutely hysterical! My sides hurt from laughing so hard!

[Brian S. Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny.

[Shaina Summerville · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious and I still pull it out when I need a laugh! I gave it to my US history teacher in high school after various stories of the dumb things said in AP papers were told.