Michael Farquhar

One-a-Day Gaffes and Genocides

A collection of 365 short histories on each day of the year (not counting February 29) of unfortunate or downright awful events on that date. I used this book as a sort of substitute almost-one-a-day calendar for the leap year 2024, and that method of reading probably worked better than reading it straight through. When taken in bite sizes, it is far easier to ignore the jarring shifts in tone. No matter how light author Michael Farquhar tries to keep the show more accounts, it is far easier to find humor in the June 13, 1977 premiere of a prime time CBS variety show starring mimes, or even German Emperor Wilhelm II's unmitigated joy at his father and predecessor Frederick III's June 15, 1888 death and his own ascension to the throne, than it is to find even a shred of gallows humor in Nazi Germany's June 14, 1940 sacking of Paris. For certain dates - most obviously September 11, 2001 and December 7, 1941 - Farquhar makes not even the faintest attempt at levity but rather presents the infamous events without comment. Other reviewers on this site have bemoaned the America-centrism and overemphasis on the trivial, but given the purpose of the collection, it seems as if Farquhar would have done better to adhere strictly to celebrity scandals (such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor's March 10, 1962 public humiliation of Taylor's then-husband Eddie Fisher), disastrous corporate missteps (the July 17, 1955 grand opening of Disneyland), sports boners (did New York Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield intentionally hit and kill a seagull at Exposition Stadium in Toronto on August 4, 1983, or was it an accident?) and political gaffes (the hilariously inappropriate mistranslation of President Jimmy Carter's address to the people of Poland on - creepily enough for the year I read it - December 29, 1977), thereby making it more a historical "News of the Weird," and to eschew the uglier and more horrifying events (January 14, 1963: George Wallace's racist screed/inaugural address as governor of Alabama; May 16, 1966 - Mao Zedong's "Cultural Revolution" encouraging millions of Chinese teenagers to turn in their parents for execution, much to the teens' later lifelong remorse; December 6, 1741 - the deposition of 16-month-old Russian Tsar Ivan VI and the abject cruelty with which he was treated for the remainder of his brief life; etc.). Almost all of the daily entries are certainly interesting, but many of them belong in a different book without funny cartoon illustrations. show less

I’m veering a little off theme for this review, in that I’ve technically been reading this for over a year and have only recently finished it—but I finished Cibola Burn in 2018 too, so I’m counting it. Don’t count my reading speed on this against it, though! Given the format, this was a “pick it up in odd moments” sort of book for me, and I allowed myself to be distracted by other books as well.

I enjoyed it! The writing’s simple and colloquial, the humour’s constant and show more warm except when it’s sarcastic or relying on schadenfreude, and the facts were, for the most part, unexpected and interesting. Farquhar punches up and calls out awful events and people for what they are, and inserts extra amusing factoids and context pretty often. If you want to learn things without ever going in-depth and just generally broaden your historical knowledge a bit, this is an excellent choice of read.

I do have a slight complaint, though: for all Farquhar pulls from all the continents, a lot of the stories are still Western, white, male, and most of all, American. (Not that Washington politics and sports history aren’t wild, but. Y’know.) Then again, taking the majority of stories from non-Western cultures would be … also fraught. And a smaller complaint? As a connoisseur of weird and amusing history, not every fact was entirely unexpected, though it’s nice to have dates all the same.

So yeah: good book, fun read, interesting and educational, great for picking up as the mood strikes, not quite perfect for me but definitely enjoyable, and already on a rec list.

Warnings: Pretty much all the warnings, but in a pretty non-graphic and undetailed way. If you can’t handle “today, somebody got decapitated by a thing” or “today, Hitler was Hitler,” probably best to give this a miss.

7/10 show less

Those naughty, naughty, naughty royals! I always knew that rank excess was a recipe for disaster, but these little vinettes have been a real eye-opener. At the end, I realized that I am very, very glad never to have been born a royal. My life-expectancy would have been severely diminished.......thanks mostly to my own family.

A very enjoyable little book; I am looking forward to reading more of its ilk from the same author (this was his first one). No history knowledge is necessary for show more enjoyment, yet to will conclude the book with some of it. show less

Michael Farquhar’s “Scandal” series is simply fantastic. If school history books included the subject matter presented here along with all the dry dates and places, more students would enjoy history class I’m sure! Many readers are enchanted by historical figures, as indicated by the popularity of such writers as Philippa Gregory, or Jean Plaidy. We want to hear about the sordid affairs of Henry VIII, Louis XVI, and other famous dead people! But, the author doesn’t give us fiction. show more He digs into the past of many royals across the centuries for the juicy stories that actually happened, but aren’t necessarily important.

There were books before this one, most notably “Royal Babylon,” that made a similar attempt. However, that book was plodding and the writing too formal and dissertation-like. This is where Farquhar shines. He tells each anecdote with simple, elegant language that is easy to read and flows like a fiction novel. It’s like reading an episode of “Access Hollywood” for the celebrities of previous centuries. Some will argue that he has his facts wrong, or “it didn’t happen that way.” They’re missing the point. This is meant to titillate, entertain and give readers a peak into a less than glorious past. And it may just inspire some people to look further for more information on some of the historical subjects depicted. Highly recommended!

Other books in the series:
A Treasury of Great American Scandals
A Treasury of Deception
A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans show less