Book Review - Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped by Tony Perrottet
Category Book Review Tony Perrottet Napoleon's Privates: 2 500 Years of History Unzipped
Finally... The answers to all those important questions that have plagued mankind over the years. Who's buried in Custer's tomb? How many children did Jefferson have with his slave Sally Hemings? And was Napoleon's "private parts" go to the grave with him? These and many other "critical" questions are answered in Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped by Tony Perrottet. Yeah, nothing much in here *has* to be known to get by in life, but it's a fun read and a look at history that's not normally discussed in polite company.
(Normally, I'd list the table of contents here to give the prospective reader an idea of what's included. But each "chapter" is only a couple pages long, the titles are full questions or statements, and it goes on for three pages. The listing would be longer than my review. Trust me when I say they touch on a whole lot of strange and bizarre items...)
Perrottet's idea for the book started when he heard that Napoleon's "privates" had been absconded with at death, and were now in the possession of a guy who lived in New Jersey. After tracing down that particular story, he started following up on many other salacious rumors of people and places. Did J. Edgar Hoover, the gruff head of the FBI for many years, actually go to parties in drag? The rumors say yes, but the evidence is lacking and the main accuser had a bit of a motive for spreading the story. Were ancient Olympian athletes pure and natural, untouched by today's level of performance enhancing substances? Nope, they were just as driven to win at any cost, using potions, charms, and rituals designed to offer up an edge over the competition. They would have had to have been to try things like Ethiopian dirt, the flesh of a spotted gecko, or squeezed mustard-rocket leaf (known as the Semen of Hercules). Yuck... All those giants of industry, those "robber barons" who built the foundation of many of our industries? Perrottet charts a number of them, looking at their childhood, their big break, the signature coupe, their bid for respectability, their secret tip, and finally, their "inspirational quote". Easy to get choked up with Jay Gould's classic "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half."
This smallish book is filled with historical factoids that probably won't make much of a difference in how you live your life. But it's a fun read, and it'll offer up some alternative perspectives on who and/or why certain historical figures behaved as they did. I definitely won't look at a champagne class the same way again...
Finally... The answers to all those important questions that have plagued mankind over the years. Who's buried in Custer's tomb? How many children did Jefferson have with his slave Sally Hemings? And was Napoleon's "private parts" go to the grave with him? These and many other "critical" questions are answered in Napoleon's Privates: 2,500 Years of History Unzipped by Tony Perrottet. Yeah, nothing much in here *has* to be known to get by in life, but it's a fun read and a look at history that's not normally discussed in polite company.
(Normally, I'd list the table of contents here to give the prospective reader an idea of what's included. But each "chapter" is only a couple pages long, the titles are full questions or statements, and it goes on for three pages. The listing would be longer than my review. Trust me when I say they touch on a whole lot of strange and bizarre items...)
Perrottet's idea for the book started when he heard that Napoleon's "privates" had been absconded with at death, and were now in the possession of a guy who lived in New Jersey. After tracing down that particular story, he started following up on many other salacious rumors of people and places. Did J. Edgar Hoover, the gruff head of the FBI for many years, actually go to parties in drag? The rumors say yes, but the evidence is lacking and the main accuser had a bit of a motive for spreading the story. Were ancient Olympian athletes pure and natural, untouched by today's level of performance enhancing substances? Nope, they were just as driven to win at any cost, using potions, charms, and rituals designed to offer up an edge over the competition. They would have had to have been to try things like Ethiopian dirt, the flesh of a spotted gecko, or squeezed mustard-rocket leaf (known as the Semen of Hercules). Yuck... All those giants of industry, those "robber barons" who built the foundation of many of our industries? Perrottet charts a number of them, looking at their childhood, their big break, the signature coupe, their bid for respectability, their secret tip, and finally, their "inspirational quote". Easy to get choked up with Jay Gould's classic "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half."
This smallish book is filled with historical factoids that probably won't make much of a difference in how you live your life. But it's a fun read, and it'll offer up some alternative perspectives on who and/or why certain historical figures behaved as they did. I definitely won't look at a champagne class the same way again...
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