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by Catherine Fet (Author), Mia Valgenti (Author)
History is full of kings who had zero self-control, philosophers who threw tantrums like 5-year-olds, scientists who fought over inventions, spies who tried to turn cats into secret agents, and great artists who lost sight of where art ends and real life begins. All of them were just humans who let pride, panic, or plain old silliness get the best of them - like that familiar "La-la-la... I'm so cool!" moment... right before everything goes Blamo! and Oops! This book is a collection of historical anecdotes and facts demonstrating how poor judgement, hubris, and volcanic ego cause epic nosedives, and how sometimes a humble 'my bad' can save the day.
This book is not about mocking historical figures. I hope our young readers will roll their eyes at history's bloopers and facepalms with a touch of compassion in their hearts. They may realize that being grownups isn't that easy, and they may recognize themselves in the stories of epic stumbles and delusions of the past. Also, even though many of history's greats got themselves into a mess, some of them found their way out - setting examples of listening, learning... and of realizing that mistakes don't make you look foolish - but refusing to learn from them does.
Today, more than ever, we need our kids to seek wisdom tested by time, to learn their lessons from the events and characters remembered by history - be it as role models or cautionary tales - as opposed to the ethically-hollow, debilitating, inconsequential fluff they are bombarded with daily on social and legacy media.
The "cautionary tale" events on the pages of this book range from civilizational disasters (the fall of Rome, the fall of Constantinople) and ego clashes of antiquity, to the battles, riots, lost treasures, and strategy fails all the way into the 20th century, even up to the Soviet "schools without books," the CIA's "Acoustic Kitty" project, and the "New Math" panic. Our historical figures range from Pyrrhus, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, and Caligula - to Richard the Lionheart, Napoleon, Bismarck, Abraham Lincoln, Sarah Bernhardt, Ponzi, and many more. The chase of El Dorado... Newton vs. Leibniz at each other's throats in the Calculus War, Tesla vs Edison in the War of the Currents... Salvador Dalí's and Pablo Picasso's "Is it art or a prank?" controversies... It's all here, for our kids to explore, laugh at, and learn from.
