{"product_id":"9780061980251","title":"The Pessimist's Guide to History: An Irresistible Compendium of Catastrophes, Barbarities, Massacres, and Mayhem-From 14 Billion Years Ago to 2007","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe classic irreverent look at the past—now updated with even more appalling facts!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourteen billion or so years ago, the Big Bang exploded—and it's been downhill from there. For every spectacular discovery throughout history, there have been hundreds of devastating epidemics; for every benevolent despot, a thousand like Vlad the Impaler; for every cup half-full, a larger cup half-empty. This enthralling, enlightening, and devilishly entertaining chronicle of disasters and dastardly deeds brings to light the darkest events in history and the most abysmal calamities to strike the planet . . . so far.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e88 BC: Mithridates VI Eupator provides an early example of genocide by massacring 100,000 Romans.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1347: Saint Vitus' Dance Epidemic shimmies across Europe like a deadly disco fever, leaving its victims twitching, uncontrollably leaping, and foaming at the mouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1888: Jack the Ripper stalks through the dark alleys of Whitechapel, England, turning the world's oldest profession into the world's most dangerous one.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1939: A Swiss chemist wins a Nobel Prize for developing DDT—and the environment gets another nail in the coffin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2005: Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast. In a classic double whammy, the government response also devastates the Gulf Coast.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd much, much more!\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47119311601904,"sku":"9780061980251","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780061980251_p0.jpg?v=1769910466","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780061980251","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}