An Uncommon History of Common Things (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781426204203)

Pop culture fans and trivia lovers will delight in National Geographic's highly browsable, freewheeling compendium of customs, notions and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history. Dip into any page and discover extraordinary hidden details in the everyday that will inform, amuse, astonish, and surprise. From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, this book features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields-- when they weren't busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

Author: Bethanne Patrick
ISBN-10: 1426204205
ISBN-13: 9781426204203
Publisher: National Geographic Society
Language: English
Published: 11/17/2009
Pages: 304
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.31lbs
Size: 9.54h x 7.62w x 1.02d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/15/2009 pg. 84
People Weekly 12/07/2009 pg. 126
LJ Best Reference Sources 11/15/2009 pg. 42