The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities

In the dry, stuffy world of historical non-fiction, humor must be taboo. I've read enough boring, bland history books to fill a small library. I don't recall ever seeing words like "bewigged" and "sissies" or phrases like "...because nobody likes a smartass" or "another damn African civil war " in any of them. This author - even as he delves deep into the most horrific events in human history - can find the time to communicate the thoughts the reader certainly has going through their mind at the time.Snarkiness aside, the author also delivers the cold, hard facts of murder and mayhem for a topic that is virtually- with few exceptions - glossed over in classroom history texts. He managed to put each event into chronological and political perspective that even the most knowledgeable historian, professional and couch potato alike, can learn from.My biggest takeaway was the realization that mass murder, starvation, tyranny, and misery are the true cornerstones of the human condition. We in the west especially the USA, have lived more or less in a vacuum, a protective cocoon from that kind of pain for over a hundred years. We fail to realize how tenuous, rare and temporary this kind of peace really is. This book should be required reading in all civics, history and government classes throughout the country. Knowing how our little sliver of time fits inside the overall march of humankind's last 5,000 or so years may cause some of us to turn off the Pokemon app, put down the protest signs, and get on with doing something meaningful.

This book lists the most horrible atrocities humankind has committed to each other starting from ancient times to present day. It is very detailed with each of these events on the list providing historical background and analysis. One thing I did not expect while reading through it was the dark humor sprinkled here and there which I did not mind at all. According to this book the minimum kill count to be on the top 100 was around 300,000 people dead which is a macabre representation of humanity's strife over ideologies, religion, territory, power, race, war etc. All this is thoroughly detailed in this book. Although the subject is very dark and grisly it is a very interesting read.

Masterfully researched and presented, the 100 deadliest episodes in human history is a thoroughly captivating summary of world history. Astute analysis, firm grasp of situations, and wry humor rises to the challenge to make history popular rather than regurgitate popular history. Definitely a keeper to reread and reference. Amazing! Simply amazing! I could not put it down!

ATROCITIES: THE 100 DEADLIEST EPISODES IN HUMAN HISTORY provides a blunt view at mankind’s destructive ways from the Second Persian War (480 BC) to the Second Congo War (2002). Between these two bookends are a multitude of wars, genocides, rebellions, crusades, revolts and general acts/missions of deadly cruelty that consumed hundreds of millions of lives. As astonishing as the sheer number of deaths are, even more astonishing is that author Matthew White only details and ranks (by death toll) the 100 deadliest events. What makes ATROCITIES such a worthy reference is not only the abundance of details, but the presentation of the material along with White’s mordant narration.Organized in a chronological manner, each “episode” (war, genocide, etc.) is presented as a chapter. Each chapter includes a summary header that encapsulates the episode by including: death toll, participants, time frame, location, general reasoning behind episode, who or what’s to blame and the episode’s rank on the list of 100. Following the header, White delves into the dirty details of the event in a succinct manner that is rich with details. His witty summaries of each episode include a degree of sarcasm that somehow manages to blend the grave subject manner with a bit of humor. The humor relates mostly to how mankind’s stupidity often leads to mass death … many of the episodes presents will have readers shaking their heads. White makes the depressing topic rather enjoyable to read. There are no illustrations/pictures (other than the cover) and only a handful of maps in the book, but the text renders such visual aids unnecessary. The appendices at the end of the book provide the rationale behind the rankings, additional summarized data and the sources used to create the book.Overall, ATROCITIES is a terrific and useful reference that brings to light many lesser-known historical events from all over the world. There were quite a few episodes that I had never heard of, especially in Africa. I have always enjoyed almanacs, older versions of the Guinness Book of World records and The Book of Lists, so this book really hit the mark with me.

Very good book, lots of fascinating information here for people interested in history, and especially the history of large-scale human violence. The author's methodology is, by his own admission, not exact, but overall he did a great job tackling a massive, complex, and fascinating subject. Rather than accept this book as the final say on anything, I would use it as a good starting point for further research, and a good summary of the generally accepted mainstream viewpoint of the events listed.I found one small error of fact in the chapter on the Mahdi Rebellion (the British officer who converted to Islam was von Slatin, not Hicks Pasha, who I don't think was ever a convert). So again, I'd double check the details elsewhere before relying on anything too specific.The author clearly has his own opinions on politics, religion, and history, and it comes across in his writing style. But for the most part he avoids any screeds or polemics, and sticks to a just-the-facts presentation of his data set rather than shoving his own interpretations down the reader's throat.Would recommend.

Brilliant book more like a world history. Explains so much clearly.

Matthew White walks us through the history of human warfare, slaughter, genocide, conquest and slavery in an attempt to chronicle our savage behaviour, often under the banner of Christ, Mohammed or Yahweh. He writes as an historian, and considers that which other authors have written about the same volume of killings, or the motivation behind them. His estimates of the numbers killed are conservative (445 million), but this is not just a number-counting exercise. The final chapter summarizes and categorizes the homicides, and which leaders were more likely to initiate their murderous campaigns. The only thing missing, in my view, is that he has not addressed WHY humans are so much more blood-thirsty than their primate contemporaries. No other mammal butchers its own members like we do.I appreciate his writing style - a trace of "gallows humor" that probably helped him through the nightmarish task of writing this book. It might be a haunting read for some people, given that there is no limit to the agony which one person can inflict on another. If you can imagine a horrible torture, it's been done (and may still be going on in some countries).One final note: if you've been schooled to believe that human beings are born "tabula rasa" (a blank slate), or that good people only do bad things because of wicked social forces, you may have to revise your thinking. Criminologists (a group in which I am a member) are notorious for providing "sociological alibis" for bad behaviour. It could be that we carry a non-adaptive mutation - one which may tragically end life on earth through environmental degradation or a global nuclear war. We're certainly capable of doing it as White has shown.

Good storyteller, White somehow manages to tell these terrible tales with a hint of brightness. Good reading for history fans and people who just like to know about how powerful people get into terrible things.

A good snapshot of historical misdeeds that led to mass casualties due to greed, over inflated egos, miss-communication and a plethora of other avoidable wars that caused so much untold suffering.The seller was prompt and the book was delivered as advertised. I would do business with them again. Much appreciated

did the job.