More Bad Days in History

More Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar
6/8/21; 464 pages
National Geographic

More Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar is a highly recommended compendium featuring a bad event for every day of the year. This follows Bad Days in History published in 2015.

Organized by month and day this is not so much a book you read cover to cover as one you dip into for a daily or monthly dose of misfortune, mishaps, and misbehavior. The entries range from ancient Rome to recent history, with more recent dates favored over earlier times. The historical anecdotes cover a wide range of subjects, from politicians, to writers, celebrities, pop culture figures and notable personalities. This is the book for those who derive pleasure from another person's misfortune. The events are not horrific or tragic; they are bad days, just like a bad day you might have only perhaps on a larger scale because most of us won't have our bad days recorded for posterity. The events covered are mostly that of a person but some tangentially involve a city or region.

Recently during a small gathering I brought out the book and we had an enjoyable time just thumbing through the book, looking up suggested dates (birthdays are always fun). This was a fun approach to using More Bad Days in History as an entertaining diversion. It must be noted that the group found some bad days more amusing than others, which is to be expected with any collection of what are essentially short stories. It was also noted among the group that some of the wording was a little more prejudicial or politicized than it needed to be. It's a collection of bad days in history so extra editorializing shouldn't be needed to tell the story.

Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from National Geographic for TLC Book Tours. 

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