Half the stuff Panati lists as "facts" are more like opinions of "folklorists" or citations from questionable history. I got to about page 70, and lost interest. Highly recommended for anyone interest is history popular culture word origins and origins of many of our customs and inventions. The author does point out that these are the best estimates available at time of writing. Of course, some of the history might be debated-especially back in the times of the ancient world. I just wanted to pick up some neat and interesting facts about history-and this book succeded in that. Of course, with so much informationb I cannot recall everything nor do I plant to. a picture is worth a thousa nd words, they say-and I always enjoy old phtographs and engravings. The illustrations from older books reprinted here I found added much to my please. Many people might just dip into this type of book just looking for certain infomration-but I read it entirely and found the writing well well organized and fun. The author sorts by various criteria-origins of superstitions holidays customs inventions and much more!
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