When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain
History's Unknown Chapters
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
"Obscure and addictive true tales from history told by one of our most entertaining historians, Giles Milton. The first installment in Giles Milton's outrageously entertaining series, History's Unknown Chapters: colorful and accessible, intelligent and illuminating, Milton shows his customary historical flair as he delves into the little-known stories from the past.There's the cook aboard the Titanic, who pickled himself with whiskey and survived in the icy seas where most everyone else died. There's the man who survived the atomic bomb in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And there's many, many more. Covering everything from adventure, war, murder and slavery to espionage, including the stories of the female Robinson Crusoe, Hitler's final hours, Japan's deadly balloon bomb and the emperor of the United States, these tales deserve to be told"--
Series
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1 primary book#1 in History's Unknown Chapters
History's Unknown Chapters is a 1-book series first released in 2014 with contributions by Giles Milton.
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I enjoyed this book - probably more than I had expected to.
To describe the book - it is a collection of very short stories taken from the archive searches - all with a weird, unexpected, or unusual element to them, which are arranged in loose chapters of similar content - for example - there might be 3 or 4 stories located in polar regions, or 3 or 4 stories about Hitler, or 3 or 4 stories set in Japan, etc etc
They are very short - most 7-10 pages, some up to about 15 pages. This makes it ideal as a short burst, pick up / put down read. The stories are varied and interesting, there are twists, turns and surprises. There are some which are relatively well known (and this has been a criticism from other reviewers) - you hear them on those pop history game shows - like Stephen Fry's QI, or other fact based quiz shows - but most are new to me, and while there is certainly some sensationalism around the title, it is harmless promotion.
Overall very good, and I will seek out the second book in Milton's series.
4 stars
