World History
I received a copy of the book Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition. The book is lavishly illustrated and has entries for every country in the world. The United States is given extra coverage with each state getting an entry. The book looks like a real reference book you would find at your local library.
The publisher description of the book reads, "Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of The Planet Earth, 73rd Edition features incorrect statistics on all of the Earth's 168, 182, or 196 independent nations. It also features maps, including a fold-out world map at actual size. Readers will learn about every country from Afghanistan, 'Allah's Cat Box,' to the Ukraine, 'The Bridebasket of Europe.' Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why The Onion is publishing a world atlas: to help us. Our Dumb World is an invaluable tool for any reader interested in overthrowing a weakened government in East Asia, exploiting a developing nation in Africa, or for directions to tonight's party at Erica's. It is a reference guide to 250,000 of the world's most important places, such as North Korea's Trench of Victory, the Great Human Pyramid of Egypt, and Saudi Arabia's superhighway, the Mohammedobahn."
Despite the books appearance, few are going to believe this is a real reference work. The satire is clever, humorous, and sometimes downright offensive. The facts are fabricated, based on stereotypes, and often amusing. The country maps with fake locations are particularly clever. Probably the only hazard this book poses is to struggling students who use English as a second language who may not recognize satire.
The history covered in each region is loosely based on facts but bears no resemblance to reality. Interesting tidbits include:
* The United States - "1865, Robert E. Lee agrees to surrender and end the Civil War on the condition that 193 high schools in the south be named after him" (p. 11)
* Bahamas - "1717, The Bahamas becomes a Five-Star British crown colony with full buffet" (p. 40).
* Zambia - "1851, Queen Victoria renounces her crown and hacks her way through the Zambian jungle...Thus the majestic waterfall near her hut was named Victorian Falls" (p. 71).
* Andorra - "1278, Andorra celebrates its grand opening, commemorated with the cutting of a 75-mile long ribbon strung around its perimeter" (p. 147).
* Thailand - "1440-1939, The people of Thailand call their country by the wrong name for nearly 500 years" (p. 222).
* New Zealand - "1939, Japanese location scouts find New Zealand to be ideal for their major WWII epic" (p. 236).
No country (no matter how small) is neglected. This is a fun, entertaining book virtually assured to also offend you at some point. When you need a break from those serious history texts, take a look at this book. You may have trouble putting it down.
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World History
Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition
I received a copy of the book Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, 73rd Edition. The book is lavishly illustrated and has entries for every country in the world. The United States is given extra coverage with each state getting an entry. The book looks like a real reference book you would find at your local library.The publisher description of the book reads, "Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of The Planet Earth, 73rd Edition features incorrect statistics on all of the Earth's 168, 182, or 196 independent nations. It also features maps, including a fold-out world map at actual size. Readers will learn about every country from Afghanistan, 'Allah's Cat Box,' to the Ukraine, 'The Bridebasket of Europe.' Today's news-parody consumer cannot possibly understand made-up current events without the context of fake world history and geography. That is why The Onion is publishing a world atlas: to help us. Our Dumb World is an invaluable tool for any reader interested in overthrowing a weakened government in East Asia, exploiting a developing nation in Africa, or for directions to tonight's party at Erica's. It is a reference guide to 250,000 of the world's most important places, such as North Korea's Trench of Victory, the Great Human Pyramid of Egypt, and Saudi Arabia's superhighway, the Mohammedobahn."
Despite the books appearance, few are going to believe this is a real reference work. The satire is clever, humorous, and sometimes downright offensive. The facts are fabricated, based on stereotypes, and often amusing. The country maps with fake locations are particularly clever. Probably the only hazard this book poses is to struggling students who use English as a second language who may not recognize satire.
The history covered in each region is loosely based on facts but bears no resemblance to reality. Interesting tidbits include:
* The United States - "1865, Robert E. Lee agrees to surrender and end the Civil War on the condition that 193 high schools in the south be named after him" (p. 11)
* Bahamas - "1717, The Bahamas becomes a Five-Star British crown colony with full buffet" (p. 40).
* Zambia - "1851, Queen Victoria renounces her crown and hacks her way through the Zambian jungle...Thus the majestic waterfall near her hut was named Victorian Falls" (p. 71).
* Andorra - "1278, Andorra celebrates its grand opening, commemorated with the cutting of a 75-mile long ribbon strung around its perimeter" (p. 147).
* Thailand - "1440-1939, The people of Thailand call their country by the wrong name for nearly 500 years" (p. 222).
* New Zealand - "1939, Japanese location scouts find New Zealand to be ideal for their major WWII epic" (p. 236).
No country (no matter how small) is neglected. This is a fun, entertaining book virtually assured to also offend you at some point. When you need a break from those serious history texts, take a look at this book. You may have trouble putting it down.
- Book Review: The Mental Floss History Of The World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits
Over the Christmas break, I had the good fortune to read The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp through Civilization's Best Bits. The book is by Erik Sass, Steve Wiegand, Will Pearson, and Mangesh Hattikudor. Although it has taken...
- A Voyage Long And Strange: Rediscovering The New World
I received a review copy of the book A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World last month. It is by Tony Horwitz. I enjoyed the book very much and I am happy to give it a good review here. A description of the book reads: "On a chance visit...
- Review - Under A Green Sky
I just finished reading Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future. It was written by Peter D. Ward. I found it interesting but somewhat hard to read due to some choices the author...
- David Rumsey Map Collection
While browsing yesterday, I found a fun map site. The David Rumsey Map Collection focuses on 18th and 19th century North and South American cartographic materials. It includes maps, atlases, globes, school geographies, and maritime charts. This site is...
- Complete Journey Across Time Online Version
So thanks to one of my teacher-students, Melissa Davis, for finding this. One of the best special education e-books out there is the 2008 Journey Across Time, but it so happens that the entire text is online in pdf format. Here, for example,...