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The Mental Floss History of the United States: The (Almost) Complete and (Entirely) Entertaining Story of America
Erik Sass, Mangesh Hattikudur, Will Pearson · back to the book
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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorAssassination Vacation
Sarah Vowell
A tour of key historic sites in America where incidents of political violence have occurred reveals lesser-known points of interest pertaining to each and shares information about how history has been shaped by popular culture and tourism.
So You Want to Be President?
Judith St. George, David Small · 52 pages
Presents an assortment of facts about the qualifications and characteristics of U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Bill Clinton.
How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country
Daniel O'Brien · 254 pages
"Make no mistake: Our founding fathers were more bandanas-and-muscles than powdered-wigs-and-tea. As a prisoner of war, Andrew Jackson walked several miles barefoot across state lines while suffering from smallpox and a serious head wound received when he refused to polish the boots of the soldiers who had taken him captive. He was thirteen years old. A few decades later, he became the first popul
Signing Their Lives Away
Denise Kiernan, Joseph D'Agnese · 271 pages
Introduces readers to the lives of the fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence, describing who they were, their professions, and how their lives changed in the years that followed.
A Treasury of Great American Scandals: Tantalizing True Tales of Historic Misbehavior by the Founding Fathers and Others Who Let Freedom Swing
Michael Farquhar · 384 pages
A witty compendium of the most salacious, outrageous, and quirky misdeeds in American historyFollowing on the heels of his national bestseller A Treasury of Royal Scandals, Michael Farquhar turns his attention to matters a little closer to home with A Treasury of Great American Scandals. From the unhappy family relationships of prominent Americans to the feuds, smear campaigns, duels, and infamous
Lincoln's Grave Robbers
Steve Sheinkin · 214 pages
A dramatic account of the 1875 attempt to steal the 16th president's body describes how a counterfeiting ring plotted to ransom Lincoln's body to secure the release of their imprisoned ringleader and how a fledgling Secret Service and an undercover agent conducted a daring election-night sting operation.
Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge
Eleanor Herman · 287 pages
Throughout the centuries, royal mistresses have been worshiped, feared, envied, and reviled. They set the fashions, encouraged the arts, and, in some cases, ruled nations. Eleanor Herman's Sex with Kings takes us into the throne rooms and bedrooms of Europe's most powerful monarchs. Alive with flamboyant characters, outrageous humor, and stirring poignancy, this glittering tale of passion and poli
Notorious Royal Marriages: A Juicy Journey Through Nine Centuries of Dynasty, Destiny, and Desire
Leslie Carroll · 507 pages
A funny, raucous, and delightfully dirty 900-year history of the royal marriages of Europe's most famous-and infamous-monarchs. Since time immemorial, royal marriages have had little to do with love- and almost everything to do with diplomacy and dynasty. Clashing personalities have joined in unholy matrimony to form such infamous couples as Russia's Peter II and Catherine the Great, and France's
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
Bill Bryson · 560 pages
"As I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how glorious it was that this was exactly how this land must have looked to centuries of people, quietly going about their daily business – eating, sleeping, having sex, endeavouring to be amused – and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mo
Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages
Leland Gregory · 320 pages
Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders
Brady Carlson · 336 pages
In *Dead Presidents*, NPR host Brady Carlson takes listeners to presidential gravesites, monuments, and memorials to tell the death stories of our greatest leaders. Mixing biography and travelogue, Carlson explores whether William Henry Harrison really died of a cold, why Zachary Taylor's remains were exhumed 140 years after his death, and how what killed James A. Garfield wasn't an assassin's bul
Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip
Matthew Algeo · 262 pages
From Missouri to New York and back again, this recounting of an amazing journey chronicles the road trip of a former president and his wife and their amusing, failed attempts to keep a low profile. Diners, bellhops, and cabbies shouted out “Hiya, Harry!” whenever they recognized the former president, and, out for his daily constitutional on the streets of New York, Harry even stumbled into the sid
America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, David Javerbaum, Rich Bloomquist, Steve Bodow, Tim Carvell, Eric Drysdale, J.R. Havlan, Scott Jacobson, Tom Johnson, Rob Kutner, Chris Regan, Jason Reich, Jason Ross · 227 pages
Offers tongue-in-cheek insight into American democracy with coverage of such topics as the republican qualities of ancient Rome, the antics of our nation's founders, and the ludicrous nature of today's media.
The Baby Boom: How It Got That Way (And It Wasn’t My Fault)
P.J. O'Rourke · 267 pages
With his typical wit and keen analysis, O'Rourke looks at the way the post-war generation somehow came of age by never quite growing up and somehow created a better society by turning society upside down.
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Sam Kean · 391 pages
The infectious tales and astounding details in The Disappearing Spoon follow carbon, neon, silicon, and gold as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, war, the arts, poison, and the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. --from publisher description
Profiles in Courage
John F. Kennedy · 266 pages
Profiles eight historical figures who demonstrated particular integrity in the face of opposition, including John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, and Robert A. Taft.
The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, Garnet Kindervater · 160 pages
"In 1776 Thomas Jefferson, a future president, authored the most explosive document in the history of America: The Declaration of Independence, formally severing the link between America and the British state. Michael Hardt, co-author of the groundbreaking Empire and Multitude, examines this and other texts by Jefferson, arguing that his powerful concept of democracy is, seen through contemporary
Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of American National Security Policy During the Cold War
John Lewis Gaddis · 458 pages
When Strategies of Containment was first published, the Soviet Union was still a superpower, Ronald Reagan was president of the United States, and the Berlin Wall was still standing. This updated edition of Gaddis' classic carries the history of containment through the end of the Cold War. Beginning with Franklin D. Roosevelt's postwar plans, Gaddis provides a thorough critical analysis of George
The Woeful Second World War
Terry Deary · 133 pages
This book about the deplorable Second World War recounts in chilling detail the worst of wars: from snow-locked and besieged cities, fly-infested tricheras, to the basement of the house next door, nowhere was safe.
George Washington's Teeth
Deborah Chandra, Madeleine Comora · 40 pages
A rollicking rhyme portrays George Washington's lifelong struggle with bad teeth. A timeline taken from diary entries and other nonfiction sources follows.