About the Author

Giles Milton is a writer and journalist. He has contributed articles to most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications, and specializes in the history of travel and exploration. In the course of his researches, he has traveled extensively in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. He has written several books of nonfiction, including the bestselling Nathaniel's Nutmeg, and has been translated into fifteen languages worldwide. He is the author of the novel Edward Trencom's Nose

Reviews

"If you get a kick out of odd historical trivia like that, you'll devour "When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain," the first installment in Giles Milton's new "History's Unknown Chapters" series. Packed with 50 stories your social studies teacher probably skipped, the book sports a wandering eye and witty voice that make for diverting winter reading."--The Washington Post A list of insurance claims taken out on pets drowned with the Titanic. A legend detailing the various forms of Chinese castrati. A detailed description--by the oh-so-fittingly named Sir Hamon L'Estrange--of a dodo a mere quarter century before the bird's extinction. These moments are the winking epigraphs of grinning Death, gleaned from Giles Milton's history of the bizarre, the obfuscated and the macabre. And what a history it is!--Paste Magazine 50 brief but detailed stories, from the hilarious to the absurd.--The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Fans of history, trivia, and Miilton's previous works will delight in this collection of lesser-known historical stories.--Library Journal (starred review) Stranger than fiction? Possibly, but life always seems to create more bizarre people and unforeseen happenings than most writers will ever imagine.--CounterPunch "[An] easily digestible mix of humor, trivia, and solid research....Dozens of seemingly too-good-to-be-true tales...There are plenty of fabulously dramatic adventures here...Milton's entertaining collection is sure to leave readers waiting for the next volume in the series.--Publishers Weekly "Milton has assembled an easily digestible compendium of historical oddities about the famous and infamous."--Kirkus Reviews