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The Book of Firsts is an entertaining, enlightening, and highly browsable tour of the major innovations of the past twenty centuries and how they shaped our world.Peter D'Epiro makes this handy overview of human history both fun and thought-provoking with his survey of the major "firsts"--inventions, discoveries, political and military upheavals, artistic and scientific breakthroughs, religious controversies, and catastrophic events--of the last two thousand years. Who was the first to use gunpowder? Invent paper? Sack the city of Rome? Write a sonnet? What was the first university? The first astronomical telescope? The first great novel? The first Impressionist painting? The Book of Firsts explores these questions and many more, from the earliest surviving cookbook (featuring parboiled flamingo) and the origin of chess (sixth-century India) to the first civil service exam (China in 606 AD) and the first tell-all memoir about scandalous royals (Byzantine Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora). In the form of 150 brief, witty, erudite, and information-packed essays, The Book of Firsts is ideal for anyone interested in an enjoyable way to acquire a deeper understanding of history and the fascinating personalities who forged it. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Subjects
History, NonfictionShowing 2 featured editions. View all 2 editions?
Edition | Availability |
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1
The Book of Firsts
2010, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
E-book
in English
0307476669 9780307476661
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2
The book of firsts: 150 world-changing people and events, from Caesar Augustus to the Internet
2010, Anchor Books
in English
0307388433 9780307388438
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Book Details
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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- Created July 27, 2009
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April 30, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
August 19, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
December 15, 2009 | Edited by WorkBot | link works |
July 27, 2009 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from Library of Congress MARC record. |