Ed Wright (1) (1968–)

A fun little book, covering (in reasonable detail) various "scandals" from history, ranging from the obvious (Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon) to the society types (Wallis Simpson, Fatty Arbuckle) and the perverted (Canaan Banana, Marquis de Sade). Sometimes the history lessons are quite basic, or may accept rumour and half-truth to fit the story, but no-one should be treating this as the sole text for research. It's a series of fascinating tales designed to show how folly and hubris have brought down some of history's most intriguing personalities, and - incidentally - a sobering reminder of how a few basic societal flaws like bigotry, repression, and inequality often lead to far worse sins.… (altro)

I agree with the points made in the previous review, but this is a useful book in the sense that it is a good overview of left-handed people throughout history. There are people mentioned in this work who I had never previously known were left-handed, but then equally the evidence presented for left-handedness in some of the ancient historical celebrities is tenuous at best. The title is a bit deceptive - there isn't nearly enough about why handedness occurs, persecution of left-handed people or left-handedness among non-famous people in this book for it to be truly interesting.… (altro)

While this is quite interesting in some parts after a while it becomes repeditive and falls into the trap of creating a template for people and attempting to shape the biography around the people rather than allowing the people to be individuals. It was interesting to hear how some of the people featured had to fight against the predjuice that many people have against left-handedness and sometimes against other issues. I found the hero-worship of many of the people, just because they're left-handed to be a bit overdone. Particularly the chapter about Bill Gates.

Oveall a good coffee table or loo book, and maybe as a starting point to interest left-handed teens to look more deeply at some of the people around, and not feel quite so alone in the world.… (altro)