The great big book of horrible things
by Matthew White · first published 2012
3mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2015–2023first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Evangelists of human progress meet their opposite in Matthew White's epic examination of history's one hundred most violent events, or, in White's piquant phrasing, "the numbers that people want to argue about." Reaching back to 480 BCE's second Persian War, White moves chronologically through history to this century's war in the Congo and devotes chapters to each event, where he surrounds hard facts (time and place) and succinct takeaways (who usually gets the blame?) with lively military, social, and political histories. With the eye of a seasoned statistician, White assigns each entry a ran
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Related: For curated list of the 100 largest atrocities, ranked by largest loss of life, check out Matthew White's The Great Big Book of Horrible Things [0] It grew out of his website, Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century, and while he is not an historian by profession (I believe he's a librarian), the book is very well researched (lots of footnotes,…
on “Julius Caesar battlefield unearthed in southern Netherlands” ↗For anyone interested in historical atrocities, "The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History's 100 Worst Atrocities" by Matthew White hardcover is on sale for $7. Oddly, the Kindle version is $10 and paperback $11. http://amzn.to/2voMw7Y
on “Body Count of the Roman Empire” ↗…passing through 3 million (Garrison…) and 5 million (Elson…) along the way. I took the low middle (Garrison’s estimate) as my estimate. The geometric means of the extremes is 3 million.” Matthew White, The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: The Definitive Chronicle of History’s 100 Worst Atrocities (2012), p. 576 (see f.n. 1 under The Crusades). Or, the religiously affirmed divine right fascists felt during WW2 to rule others as decreed…
on “Judge rules White House pressured social networks to “suppress free speech”” ↗