Review ~ Forgotten History by Jem Duducu

Amberley Publishing
15 November 2017

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy of this book

About the book...

Not all history is recorded in school textbooks or cast into towering monuments that shape city skylines. Quite often the most intriguing (and most bizarre) bits are forgotten and fall away into obscurity. In this fascinating book, Jem Duducu shines light on the almost forgotten, wonderfully strange, and often hilarious moments of history that would otherwise be lost forever. 

Forgotten History tells in delightful detail the stories of the hard-to-believe moments, people or inventions from history. Split into four main eras–ancient, medieval, early modern and twentieth century – this light-hearted and easy-to-read fact book is full to bursting with the bits from history that even history enthusiast may otherwise have never known. 

Covering a wide variety of topics, from the time a Pope put his dead predecessor on trial all the way up to the awkward moment when the US Air Force accidentally dropped nuclear bombs on Spain, take a journey through time and discover the weird and wonderful history that you didn’t learn about in school.

My thoughts...

If you are interested in snippets of 'forgotten history' then this little gem of a book will really appeal to you. 

In an easy to read format, the book covers:

Ancient History - where I discovered more about Aliens v Smart Humans:the Nazca Lines..

The Medieval Era - where I discovered more about the strange history of chocolate..

The Early Modern to the Victorians - where I discovered more about the most expensive dress disaster in history..

The Twentieth Century - where I discovered that in 1943, IBM didn't think there was much a future for computers..

It is often said that the truth is stranger than any fiction and whilst some of these forgotten moments seem to be shrouded in myth and legend, there is no doubt that we share a rich and varied history, and  that no matter how much you think you know, there is always something new to learn.

The author has done a great job in bringing these forgotten moments of history to life in one slim volume. And reading never becomes a chore as there is always a fascinating fact or two to capture the imagination. So, if you like to learn about history in bite size chunks, from the bizarre to the the genuinely obscure, then this little book would be an interesting addition to any history book shelf.

And you never know, when that pub quiz question asks who was Jonathan Wilde..well.. you'll be able to answer ...in 1718, he was the first self proclaimed Thief Taker General of Great Britain and Ireland ...who knew !!

About the Author

Jem Duducu has been in love with history for as long as he can remember. He went to UWCC to read Archaeology and Medieval History. He is also the author of several history books from the ‘100 Facts’ series for Amberley.

Follow the author on Twitter @HistoryGems.

Amazon UK

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