Idiots Follies And Misadventures

The history books are full of heroes and villains … but what about all the idiots? Comedian and armchair historian Mikey Robins tells the astonishing story of human stupidity, one idiot at a time. Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the universe. Albert Einstein History is full of heroes and villains. But then there are the idiots. Idiots, Follies & Misadventures shows that human stupidity has always been our constant companion. History tends to omit tales of human fallibility. We overlook the dubious and ridiculous contributions made by history’s tawdry parade of knuckleheads. But this book is a call to arms … knuckleheads assemble! And once assembled, prepare to be mocked. Just because history has mostly swept these idiots under the carpet does not make them by any means unsung heroes. These are rather ridiculous cautionary tales, to amuse and add some perspective to our current rash of stupidity. Tales such as: Why you shouldn’t soak your underpants in mercury. The booze cruise that plunged England into civil war. The Russian nuclear briefcase and pizzas. Flatulence jars and The Great Plague of London. The deadly green wallpaper that proved a problem for Britain's trendy middle-class.

"History is full of heroes and villains, but then there are the idiots. Idiots, Follies and Misadventures shows that human stupidity has always been our constant companion. History tends to omit tales of human fallibility. We overlook the dubious and ridiculous contributions made by history's tawdry parade of knuckleheads. But this book is a call to arms ... knuckleheads assemble! And once assembled, prepare to be mocked. Just because history has mostly swept these idiots under the carpet does not make them by any means unsung heroes. These are rather ridiculous cautionary tales, to hopefully amuse and add some perspective to our current rash of stupidity. Tales such as: - Why you shouldn't soak your underpants in mercury. - The booze cruise that plunged England into civil war. - The Russian nuclear briefcase and pizzas. - Flatulence jars and The Great Plague of London. - The deadly green wallpaper that proved a problem for Britain's trendy middle-class."--Back cover.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Excerpt from The Idiots Tous ceux qui désirent s'initier au parler de leurs voisins, ou qui ont laissé se rouiller des connaissances acquises autrefois, feront bon accueil à cette série de textes, qui leur permettra, sans le secours du dictionnaire toujours peu portatif, de consacrer à l'étude des langues les moments de loisir qui surviennent dans le courant de la journée. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

It is often said that we live in an era of constant outrage, but we are definitely not the inventors of outrageousness. Let's be honest, human beings have always been appalling. Not everyone and not all the time, but our history is littered with those whose work and deeds have rendered them . . . reprehensible. Sometimes it's our most esteemed luminaries who behave the worst. What are we to make of Catherine the Great's extensive collection of pornographic furniture, Hans Christian Andersen's too-much-information diary and Karl Marx's epic pub crawls? Or hall-of-fame huckster William McCloundy, who in 1901 actually 'sold' the Brooklyn Bridge to an unsuspecting tourist, and the pharaoh who covered his slaves in honey to keep flies off his meal? Did you know about the royal ticklers of the House of Romanov, and the bizarre coronation rituals of early Irish kings? (Let's just say that eating a white horse wasn't the weirdest part of the ceremony.) So sit back and rest your conscience: there will be a host of scoundrels, bounders and reprobates, tales of lust and power aplenty, as we indulge in that sweet spot where history meets outrage, with just a bit of old-school TMZ thrown in for good measure.

A fascinating, funny and downright bizarre survey of culinary oddities by one of Australia's most beloved comedians. In this irreverent romp through the history of food via the Seven Deadly Sins, Mikey Robins uncovers the most bizarre food-related stories of all time. From the Ancient Egyptians to the Romans, from the medieval monarchs to our current obsession with celebrity chefs, our forebears have left their mark on our habits and social mores, our plates and our palates, telling us one truth above all: where there is food, there is folly. On the topic of GLUTTONY, Mikey exposes our obsession with outlandish overconsumption and the thrill of competitive eating. PRIDE reveals some of the most arrogant dinner hosts in history, and how the once humble chef has now achieved rock-god status. LUST sheds light on our aphrodisiac fixations and the most desired foods through time. SLOTH charts the curious evolution of the fork and the etiquette of flatulence. WRATH tells of sausage duels and poisonous spite, while GREED will make you blush at the indulgences of the rich and famous. And who hasn't experienced ENVY when your dining companion's plate sings while yours sputters? Mikey Robins is your personal guide down history's gullet and into the underbelly of our wildest desires, darkest fears and guiltiest pleasures. 'Not a book for those with delicate stomachs, but a hoot for everyone else' Sydney Morning Herald 'Chock full of quirky facts, surprising histories and slightly rude morsels... much like the author himself' Amanda Keller

David Hunt tramples the tall poppies of the past in charting Australia's transformation from aspiration to nation - an epic tale of charlatans and costermongers, of bush bards and bushier beards, of workers and women who weren't going to take it anymore. Girt Nation introduces Alfred Deakin, the Liberal necromancer whose dead advisors made Australia a better place to live, and Banjo Paterson, the jihadist who called on God and the Prophet to drive the Australian infidels from the Sudan 'like sand before the gale'. And meet Catherine Helen Spence, the feminist polymath who envisaged a utopian future of free contraceptives, easy divorce and immigration restrictions to prevent the 'Chinese coming to destroy all we have struggled for!' Thrill as Jandamarra leads the Bunuba against Western Australia, and Valentine Keating leads the Crutchy Push, an all-amputee street gang, against the conventionally limbed. Gasp as Essendon Football Club trainer Carl von Ledebur injects his charges with crushed dog and goat testicles. Weep as Scott Morrison's communist great-great-aunt Mary Gilmore holds a hose in New Australia. And marvel at how Labor, a political party that spent a quarter of a century infighting over how to spell its own name, ever rose to power. 'Makes you wish David Hunt had been your history teacher. Laugh-out-loud funny and you'll actually learn something.' —Mark Humphries 'An entertaining and instructive historical romp through the formative period of Australian nation-making with a colourful cast of rhymesters, revolutionaries, rebels, racists, reprobates and rabbits.' —Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, The Australian National University 'Once again, David Hunt uses his sharpened wit to chisel away at misconceptions from Australian history leaving us with the cold, hard truth of how our nation came to be.' —Osher Günsberg 'Australian history told intelligently, but with more humour than ever before ... Girt Nation is fabulous storytelling, putting meat on the bones of the national story.' —The Weekend Australian

Once a forest has been destroyed, should one plant a new forest to emulate the old, or else plant designer forests to satisfy our immediate needs? Should we aim to re-create forests, or simply create them? How does the past shed light on our environmental efforts, and how does the present influence our environmental goals? Can we predict the future of restoration? This book explores how a consideration of time and history can improve the practice of restoration. There is a past of restoration, as well as past assumptions about restoration, and such assumptions have political and social implications. Governments around the world are willing to spend billions on restoration projects âe" in the Everglades, along the Rhine River, in the South China Sea âe" without acknowledging that former generations have already wrestled with repairing damaged ecosystems, that there have been many kinds of former ecosystems, and that there are many former ways of understanding such systems. This book aims to put the dimension of time back into our understanding of environmental efforts. Historic ecosystems can serve as models for our restorative efforts, if we can just describe such ecosystems. What conditions should be brought back, and do such conditions represent new natures or better pasts? A collective answer is given in these pages âe" and it is not a unified answer.