The Totally Useless History of the World

by Packages

Bizarre facts, strange tales and quirky anecdotes, presented in date-by-date order to create a strikingly different take on world history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Humor, Reference, Comedy, Trivia, 21st Century

361 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2000

Reviews

[Kirsti]

A really enjoyable book, I was never bored because the stories all vary so much and are mostly short. As always, I read aloud the interesting parts to my boyfriend who enjoyed this book almost as much as I did. I read it in about two settings but it might be a better read for some over the course of a week or so. I'm always fascinated by weird history and this book had plenty of that! Five stars!

[Elle]

This book has been my go-to 'dipper' for a few months now. I've been reading it extremely slowly but that did absolutely nothing to distract me from the repetition of these so called history facts.

Being a history student I had to use some serious imagination to even consider some of them being true and the fact nothing was cited properly irked me towards the end. I know it's not meant to be a proper history text or 'boring' but I would of liked a bit more information on these so called facts.

Some of them were also gruesome and horrible. This book makes a joke out of some things that should be seriously left alone and respected.

For that reason, and the fact it was just plain boring at times, I couldn't give this any more than 2 stars, no matter how long it kept me somewhat entertained.

[Jo]

Year by year we're introduced to some intriguing, sometimes hilarious, titbits from history. Fab book to dip in and out of.

[Shana]

The title is a complete misnomer as it is NOT useless at all. What such an intense lesson on barbarity, vulgarity, royal inbreeding and general idiocy teaches is that the human race, for all its fits and starts, is, on the whole, becoming more enlightened and humane. Believe it or not.

[Celeste]

I bought this book on a whim when I saw it in a bargain bin.

It was interesting. There were parts that were so graphically disgusting that I declared it a book to not read while eating, and there were parts that made me chuckle out loud. And I was delighted to see that I already knew some of the historical facts!

One thing that bothered me about the book is that it is from England, so it favors that style of spelling and abbreviations, which threw me off my ease because I noticed these things. I also found that the latter periods in history were perhaps overlooked somewhat, and of course, the data tended to center around the British Isles.

I don't see myself reading this style of book again for a while, but I do enjoy a quirky history book from time to time.

[May]

Reminds me of the National Enquirer magazine at times where the most outrageous anecdotes are only mentioned. At first, this book was kinda intriguing and actually enjoyable to read. But by the time you hit the 1600s and 1700s, the anecdotes get somewhat repetitive. After all, how many instances of witch burning in Europe does one need to bring up? And honestly, enough already about Prince Charles wanting to be a tampon or Fergie having her toes sucked by a bald Texan! Unfortunately this book doesn't live up to its title as I think Crofton could have edited some of the boring aspects out and maybe attempted to explain some of the strange behaviour that took place (e.g. why where Londoners whipping women as they passed by on this bridge one day in the 1700s?).

[Kitty]

I’m always happy for snackable nonfiction that entertains as well as educates.

What I enjoyed: Not much… but the idea is super fun! And there were a couple cool facts. The handful of photos and images added some interest.

What I didn’t love: If this was not published in 2000, I would have sworn it was written by AI. The writing is horrendous. The curation of facts is even worse. Some of these are the equivalent of, “And on this day, something happened that was neither unusual nor interesting.” I guess though with a title promising totally useless history, I got what was promised. Many facts also are in there just for the shock and awe of being sexual, violent or otherwise repulsive.

Bottom line: Don’t bother with this one. It’s not very interesting.

[Caitlin]

This is a great collection of tidbits and weirdness that's good to dip in and out of - as well as exploring the stories further. I think it's great there's such a trend for popular history these days, especially as we're able to accept that our heroes and the stories we learned at school aren't set in stone.

[Alex Simeon]

interesting to learn about the past with unusual and strange and weird facts. like some were just insane that i have to pause and think if it really did happen at that time. but it was a fun read hahaha.

[Sisuhukka]

It is not high quality history literature — it would be silly to expect that. Mostly fun and probably horribly unprovable or plain wrong. Almost took one star away for the too often seen scientology mentions.

[Noy Meir]

Fun book with short interesting stories about our history. It's not a book to read from the start to the end at once, it took me around a year to keep it near my bed and read some of the stories whenever I have a time.
It's also really nicely written, very casual and modern.

[Chocolategoddess]

A lot of the facts are really disgustingly gruesome or horrific but they’re presented in a “haha isn’t this quirky lol” way. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth so I decided not to finish it.

[Kelsey]

A fun little read that you can go back to now and then and scroll to a random page and enjoy it.

[Raving Redcoat]

A highly entertaining collections of the absurd moments in history. Well worth reading.

[Aniqah]

Slightly boring and a bit repetitive. Though there are admittedly some interesting facts, they’re few and far between.

[Tom Sheridan]

DNF p. 70.

Beautiful paper and typeset but not much more enjoyment from it.

[Abigail Rossi]

It was indeed a book of useless facts from across the ages. A good book to read before bed.

[Neeuqdrazil]

This was ok - a lot of anecdotes about odd things that have happened in history. Quick & easy read.

[Μίλτος Τρ.]

[Bus book] Αν από όλη τη παγκόσμια ιστορία αυτές οι βαρετές 300 σελίδες είναι τα πιο περίεργα περιστατικά, τότε κάτι δεν κάνεις καλά...

[Sharni Macdonald]

Horrible histories for Adults! Full of weird and interesting historical tid-bits!

[Judith Rich]

I like this book and dip into it and re-read it every now and then when I want a change from literary fiction.

[Julian Walker]

An intriguing title and one it lives up to.

Many juicy characters, historical notes, curios and events are served up in these pages for the reader to enjoy, without having to wade through lengthy introductions or explanatory scene setting.

There are no boring bits in this book – it is interesting, fun and not too frivolous. Read it and enjoy travelling through time, without the baggage.

[Lostaccount]

History without the boring bits is in fact more boring that a regular history book, surprisingly. It's full of little anecdotes and apocrypha. Confirmed what I already knew, that the Romans were a cruel bunch of maniacs (must have been something in the water), as were the British in the middle ages, as were most people of any nation throughout history. This book is filled with perverts and lunatics. It's a wonder we're all so "civilised" now!

[Hayley]

Incrediably random, fascinating and sometimes funny historical facts. Grouped by time periods from the ancient world to modern day. Including the cat piano, a flying monk, a president abducted by aliens. Most of these facts wont make their way into normal history books. Worth a good browse!

[Trish]

Not the kind of history book I usually read but definitely good. Made me laugh so much - and the best part about that: it is all true! xD *lol* Kind of nice and funny to see that someone sorted through all the history data to give people a different approach.

[Simon Lenthen]

Yes. The early bits can be repetitive but as you get closer to current times it gets very interesting and funny. Kind of like humorous flash non-fiction. The writing could be tidier though. Some anecdotes start awkwardly.

[Peter]

A very random (but surprisingly large) collection of interesting and amusing historical anecdotes. I enjoyed it, although it seemed to drag on a bit after a while, so perhaps it would have been better published as two volumes.

[The Raven King - Feyzan]

Ian crofton did a great job of compiling all the information that you don't need in one book so you can avoid it altogether. History without the boring bits is actually more boring than a usual history book.
I'll highly recommend all of you to NOT read this book.

[Zunaid Hassan]

For some reason I expected this book to be on actual serious history, just made more interesting. I was mostly wrong as it mentions the most mundane 'facts' like who farted when and ghost stories. Absolute rubbish. Wasted so much money on this.

[Stephen]

Snippets of history for each year. It contains the trivia that you was not taught at school.