Weird History 101 (My Dinner with Attila the Hun, I started WWI, Watching Custer's Last Stand, and other tales of Intrigue, Mayhem, and Outrageous Behavior), by John Richard Stephens (TPB, 1997, $2)
This is a combination history, trivia, and literature book. Some are personal accounts of famous, or weird events. (ie. Charles Dickens writing about seeing a death by Guillotine. What it is like to be an opium addict in 1822) Some are a collection of stuff you never knew (ie. Some uses for Egyptian mummies over the years- medicine, wrapping paper, fuel.) Some give good (?) advice on strange subjects ( Ben Franklin's advice on picking a mistress: pick an older woman, and Mark Twain's advice on.... well, sex. I'd better not be too specific here.)
My favorite section was on the US Presidents. For example, did you know:
1) John Quincy Adams "liked to go skinny-dipping in the Potomac. On one occasion, someone stole his clothes and he had to ask a passing boy to run to the White House to get him some more."
2) You probably all know that FDR was related to TR, but do you know that FDR was actually related to 11 of our presidents?
3) And my very favorite, President David Rice Atchison. "What, what", say you.... "Who is he? Not a president of this country." Except, yes he actually was, even if it was only for March 4th, 1849. (Atchison later revealed that he had slept most of the day.) Luckily on March 5th, Zackary Taylor allowed himself to be sworn in.
Want to read more? This is quite a book. I found it fun to read even on the second go-round. Look for it on the new non-fiction table, avail. 2/22.
