Titans of History

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

[pamela]

I would have gotten more out of Titans of History if I had just been handed a typed page of all the names included in the book and then gone on to read the Wikipedia entry on each of them on my own. The short biographies are, of course, well written, but why anyone thought it would be a good idea to distill these people's lives into little more than three pages apiece is beyond me. It lacks depth, information, and consequently, interest.

Titans of History is the kind of book that will find itself relegated to bathroom reading material. It's interesting enough and gives its information in short, manageable chunks while allowing you to emerge with a fun factoid or two after you've finished.