Showing posts with label Greatest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greatest. Show all posts

Thursday, February 2, 2012

History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truths Behind World Events our History Books Got Wrong

History's Greatest Lies: The Startling Truths Behind World Events our History Books Got Wrong Review



The true stories behind historical events give readers a fascinating new look at our past. The revelations shock and amaze by exposing veiled motivations and convenient inaccuracies in well-documented actions by established leaders that often have a continuing effect on the world.

 

Each of the fifteen chapters points out a myth that is held as a common truth in history and summarizes what we think we know. Then the author shreds the tale to academic ribbons using the latest findings on each subject. Each true story sets the record straight, reveals timeless ulterior motives, introduces important personalities who successfully (and suspiciously) avoided responsibility in common history texts, and notes underlining issues that have continued relevance in the modern age. For instance, did Nero really fiddle as Rome burned? Did Paul Revere actually alert the militia that the British were coming? Did the Catholic Church imprison Galileo because his teachings conflicted with the Bible? Weir takes on all these myths and tells the reader what really happened.

 


Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Greatest Music Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from Music History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy

The Greatest Music Stories Never Told: 100 Tales from Music History to Astonish, Bewilder, and Stupefy Review



Did you know about:

  • The ballet that sparked a riot?
  • The rock star who became an astrophysicist?
  • The song that saved Wheaties?
  • The man killed by his own conducting?
  • The controversy behind "Mary Had a Little Lamb"?

Prepare to be astonished, bewildered, and stupefied by the tantalizing tidbits of music history collected here: amazing stories about jazz, classical, country, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, show tunes, composers, band names, song lyrics, instruments, technology, controversies, and more.

Learn how the FBI spent years trying to decode the lyrics of one rock song. Discover how Watergate provided the inspiration for A Chorus Line. Find out how one megahit was born in a history class, while another was dashed off in a fit of anger at actor Robert De Niro. Meet the monk behind solfÈge, the aviation pioneer who created Muzak, and the prisoner who literally sang himself out of jail. Then there's the most important person in rock 'n' roll history—chances are you've never heard of him!

Continuing the successful Greatest Stories Never Told series, Rick Beyer has delivered another classic volume for history and music buffs alike.