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| The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy | 
 enlarge | Author: Rick Beyer
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy Used: $4.48
You Save: $14.47 (76%)
New (34) Used (23) from $4.48
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 862
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 7.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0060014016
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9780060014018
ASIN: 0060014016
Publication Date: March 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BookCloseouts scratch & dent version. New book that may have some cosmetic damage (i.e. shelf-wear, torn or missing dust jacket, dented corner...). Otherwise excellent specimen - guaranteed!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Lots of fun April 11, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book has been a lot of fun to read and share with friends. I usually think history is boring, but this book makes it interesting.
Short, Easy to Read Snipits from World History April 4, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Greatest Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy" by Rick Beyer is a fun little book with some fascinating tidbits from history.
I must admit I was disappointed by the size of the book. It's pretty small, so although there are 100 entries, each entry is only three to four paragraphs long. You can easily finish reading the entire book in an hour or two.
Anyway, the stories are very interesting and range in subject, from historical events to great moments in sports, medicine, science, and so on. Examples of subject matter include the first dog in space (before man, mind you), the restructuring of the calendar as we know it, the creation of microwaves, the inventor of the guillotine, Thomas Edison's introduction of the electric chair, the death of Attila the Hun, how a Booth saved the life of a Lincoln (as opposed to assassinating him), the most powerful pirate ever (hint: she was a woman), and the origins of penicillin. A majority of the stories seem to concern Unites States history.
To me, this book is a teaser, wetting your appetite to find out more. That's what I did. As soon as I finished "The Greatest Stories Never Told," I started looking up books on some of the topics that intrigued me (sadly, I couldn't find anything on Louis Braille).
All in all, "Greatest" is a good gift book, especially for younger people. The text is easy to read, the stories are enjoyable, and there are plenty of photos/pictures to help the imagination. It really helps history come alive.
 Good gift for history buff January 9, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I struggled to find the perfect gift for my love for Christmas. He knows quite a lot about history and I wanted something he would be sure to find "new". HE LOVES THIS BOOK. It is full of much trivia-like facts about many different hints of the past dating back to the 1800's. I think I scored big on this one! He was enthralled. Not being such a lover of this type of reading material, I actually found this book quite enjoyable myself. Each story about an historical event is about 2 pages in length. Not too much, but right to the point. Entertaining.
A Fun, Easy & Educational Read for All Ages July 21, 2006
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
What a great little book! Based on a series of History Minutes developed to air on The History Channel, every two-page spread of this little gem provides a short, easy-to-read and very interesting story-behind-the-story that most of us don't know.
The most interesting of these 100 brief stories are those in which one decision by one person ended up changing history and life as we know it, even today. Some of those include:
* Lost in Translation - where a poor word choice caused the first use of the atom bomb.
* BA-BUMP Goes the Stethoscope - about the doctor who invented it out of modesty.
* Cooking With Radar - about the invention of the microwave oven.
But the mix of story themes also keeps this book interesting, including insights into people we know by name without knowing much about them, like Proctor and Gamble, John Harvey Kellogg, Lionel of Lionel Trains fame, James Bond, and many more.
I also enjoyed it because it's easy to read 2 or 3 stories during lunch or just before dozing off at night. And, at the risk of sounding like a commercial, it's a great gift for kids who love to read because they'll have the inside scoop on many, many popular cutlure stories that their friends (and often teachers) won't know.
Enjoy.
Who'da thought?! June 25, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Some simply amazing stories. My ten-year old son chose this book for his "bedtime reading". Educational AND Entertaining.
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