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An Underground Education : The Unauthorized and Outrageous Supplement to Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, and Other Fields of Human | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Zacks
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy Used: $6.00
You Save: $11.95 (67%)
New (9) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $6.00
Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 36501
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Anchor Books Ed
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0385483767
Dewey Decimal Number: 031.02
EAN: 9780385483766
ASIN: 0385483767
Publication Date: April 20, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Forget the history you were taught in school; Richard Zacks's version is crueler and funnier than anything you might have learned in seventh-grade civics--and much more of a gross-out, too. Described on the book jacket as an "autodidact extraordinaire," Zacks is also the author of History Laid Bare, making him something of an expert guide through history's back alleys and side streets. There's no fact too seamy or perverse for Zacks to drag out into the light of day, from matters scatological and sexual to some of history's most truly bizarre episodes. Curious about ancient nose-blowing etiquette? What about the sexual proclivities of Catherine the Great? Throughout chapters such as "The Evolution of Underwear" and "Dentistry Before Novocaine," Zacks proves a tireless debunker of popular myths as well as a muckraker par excellence.
Product Description
A fabulous compendium of alternative takes on nearly every aspect of human experience. 200 photos and illustrations throughout. National reviews.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 66 more reviews...
 Interesting read November 2, 2008
Jamie Schobey (Jefferson City, MO)
I love the zany information in this book. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that occassionally I found the author to be a bit annoying (trying to throw unnecessary humor in where it wasn't really needed)...other than that...very interesting facts!!
 A book based on fables September 25, 2008
Coach Brock (Illinois)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I just skimmed through the book, and found three errors. They were based on books that were written decades ago but have been "debunked" themselves. The author found lots of trivia and printed it as fact, without checking his sources. Some of the book might be true, but my random skimming convinced me to find a book better researched. Anyone could do what this author has done.
 Great information, but terrible layout June 9, 2008
Steven T. Kearney (Philadelphia, PA USA)
I am in the 2nd section of this book (Business), and thoroughly enjoyed the first (Arts and Literature). Great 'useless' information and trivia, which will come in handy at a cocktail reception. The problem is that in the 2nd section, for about 20 pages, every other page is shuffled with the one behind it (making it essential that you flip back and forth a couple pages to read each chapter - all around pages 60-70, and beyond). This is incredibly annoying, and I've never seen it in 30+ Years of Reading. From Random House, no less, how did this happen?
I can't tell if I don't enjoy the Business section because of content or layout, so I'll give the book 4 Stars, and deduct 2 for a terrible layout (giving me a headache, it is).
 An Underground Education April 20, 2008
A. D. Cox (northern PA, USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
An Underground Education
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Sigh, just another 98 times and then I have to go home and start my history homework. I guess my teacher didn't like some of my more creative answers to the exam. What does she know? She is totally oblivious to Area 51, Tesla's death ray, or that Hitler's Brain is hooked up to a supercomputer and is the president of Brazil. I love reading, but she makes history soooo boring. She just teaches us what we are supposed to know. Nothing I'm not supposed to know, nothing quirky or surprising, or interesting. I mean, why did Napoleon really lose the battle of Waterloo? * Textbooks can be so plodding, far too logical and way too orderly. History is messy and it can be amusing and not so serious, and even a little bizarre...
I want to know the good stuff and that's why I turned to An Underground Education: The Unauthorized And Outrageous Supplement To Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, And Other Fields Of Human Knowledge by Richard Zacks. Forget what you learned in school, and the teacher's angry red marker. Zacks debunks many popular cultural myths and gives new life to old history. Zacks has divided the book into ten different sections: Arts & Literature, Business, Crime & Punishment, Everyday Life, Medicine, Religion, Science, Sex, World History, and American History.
Zacks covers a wide variety of topics, but he keeps the writing simple and attention grabbing. His emphasis, however, is definitely on the strange and often perverse. So, if you are easily offended, and a bit conservative you should probably skip this book. I mean the title does have business and sex in the title, so that should tell you it's not for the thin-skinned. For example, you might read today's headlines and get the impression that Iraqi War profiteering is something new, but the unfortunate soldiers of the Civil War often wore shoes with no soles, slept in disintegrating tents, and fired weapons that blew up in their hands, all due to the greed of America's great capitalists.
Surely you would have paid more attention in English class if you knew the Bard was so bawdy or that Chaucer made sly jokes about sex. Sure, you knew Edison was credited for inventing the incandescent light bulb, but did you know he secretly helped develop the electric chair in a devious scheme to have the death-dealing device named after his archrival, George Westinghouse? There are lots of interesting facts and tidbits, though it's far from complete. For example, he joyfully explores the evolution of the codpiece, but skips over the symbolism of the long-toed shoes, or poulaines. European folk beliefs equated foot-size with penis-size (think also of noses...) and the tips of the poulaines were thus phallic symbols. The tops of poulaines were also often painted with images of male genitals. You just can't make this stuff up!
Yes, history is way more interesting, and vastly more complicated, than the dried-out sentences in high school history books that leave me feeling deeply unsatisfied. Perhaps great men and women should be pushed off their pedestals. They do not stand on the shoulders of giants (not an admission of humility by Sir Isaac Newton, but rather a bitter insult to a hunchbacked dwarf he was feuding with); they are human, like you and me. Made of flesh and blood and sometimes just a little strange-the famous Mari Hari was no master spy, Cleopatra was ugly as sin, and Pope Innocent III authorized a holy quest for Jesus' foreskin. I guess history can be entertaining, warped and worth remembering. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...
*Theories abound, but the brilliant strategist had a raging case of hemorrhoids, which prevented him from riding out and surveying the troops. Ahh, but for a nail...
History, condemned repeating it, or seeing if we can escape it? Email me at frommyshelf@epix.net. Miss a column? Our archives are available at www.frommyshelf.blogspot.com read the history of Hobo in "Hobo Finds A Home" A charming story about a barn cat who wants more out of life. Don't miss the in depth documentary about Hobo the cat, soon to be aired on the History Channel
An Underground Education April 17, 2008
An Underground Education
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Sigh, just another 98 times and then I have to go home and start my history homework. I guess my teacher didn't like some of my more creative answers to the exam. What does she know? She is totally oblivious to Area 51, Tesla's death ray, or that Hitler's Brain is hooked up to a supercomputer and is the president of Brazil. I love reading, but she makes history soooo boring. She just teaches us what we are supposed to know. Nothing I'm not supposed to know, nothing quirky or surprising, or interesting. I mean, why did Napoleon really lose the battle of Waterloo? * Textbooks can be so plodding, far too logical and way too orderly. History is messy and it can be amusing and not so serious, and even a little bizarre...
I want to know the good stuff and that's why I turned to An Underground Education: The Unauthorized And Outrageous Supplement To Everything You Thought You Knew About Art, Sex, Business, Crime, Science, Medicine, And Other Fields Of Human Knowledge by Richard Zacks. Forget what you learned in school, and the teacher's angry red marker. Zacks debunks many popular cultural myths and gives new life to old history. Zacks has divided the book into ten different sections: Arts & Literature, Business, Crime & Punishment, Everyday Life, Medicine, Religion, Science, Sex, World History, and American History.
Zacks covers a wide variety of topics, but he keeps the writing simple and attention grabbing. His emphasis, however, is definitely on the strange and often perverse. So, if you are easily offended, and a bit conservative you should probably skip this book. I mean the title does have business and sex in the title, so that should tell you it's not for the thin-skinned. For example, you might read today's headlines and get the impression that Iraqi War profiteering is something new, but the unfortunate soldiers of the Civil War often wore shoes with no soles, slept in disintegrating tents, and fired weapons that blew up in their hands, all due to the greed of America's great capitalists.
Surely you would have paid more attention in English class if you knew the Bard was so bawdy or that Chaucer made sly jokes about sex. Sure, you knew Edison was credited for inventing the incandescent light bulb, but did you know he secretly helped develop the electric chair in a devious scheme to have the death-dealing device named after his archrival, George Westinghouse? There are lots of interesting facts and tidbits, though it's far from complete. For example, he joyfully explores the evolution of the codpiece, but skips over the symbolism of the long-toed shoes, or poulaines. European folk beliefs equated foot-size with penis-size (think also of noses...) and the tips of the poulaines were thus phallic symbols. The tops of poulaines were also often painted with images of male genitals. You just can't make this stuff up!
Yes, history is way more interesting, and vastly more complicated, than the dried-out sentences in high school history books that leave me feeling deeply unsatisfied. Perhaps great men and women should be pushed off their pedestals. They do not stand on the shoulders of giants (not an admission of humility by Sir Isaac Newton, but rather a bitter insult to a hunchbacked dwarf he was feuding with); they are human, like you and me. Made of flesh and blood and sometimes just a little strange-the famous Mari Hari was no master spy, Cleopatra was ugly as sin, and Pope Innocent III authorized a holy quest for Jesus' foreskin. I guess history can be entertaining, warped and worth remembering. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...
*Theories abound, but the brilliant strategist had a raging case of hemorrhoids, which prevented him from riding out and surveying the troops. Ahh, but for a nail...
History, condemned repeating it, or seeing if we can escape it? [...] Miss a column? Our archives are available at [...] read the history of Hobo in "Hobo Finds A Home" A charming story about a barn cat who wants more out of life. Don't miss the in depth documentary about Hobo the cat, soon to be aired on the History Channel!
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