Humorous, sarcastic look at many of humanity’s less than finer moments (and there are a lot)

I loved this book. Tom Phillips writes with a conversational tone and with great humor. He covers everything from science to politics in a clear and conversational manner. Every chapter ended with humorous yest scary snippets. I most appreciated that while sarcasm can come across as jaded and bitter, in this book it was just plain funny.

With a gigantic amount of dry wit and colorful language, Phillips touches on some of the "greatest hits" of failures during the course of humanity's reign as the preeminent species upon the planet.

We're informed of screw-ups in terms of the environment, ones regarding animals, war, politics, inventions, and the list goes on; concluding with a few words on what we're messing up now, it's not the biggest pick-me-up you'll ever reach for, but at least the book's aiming to be proof that we're at least aware of *some* mistakes and a few of us are trying to keep away from repeating them. Approaching our massive shortcomings from the angle of light-heartedness balms the wound, so to speak.

It's a legitimate page-turner, as, thanks to the author's writing style and biting humor, everything seems balanced---not too many snide remarks, and not too bogged down with the copy/paste historical re-tellings that end up rolling along more akin to a term paper than someone in front of you woefully laying out why we suck so much.

If you're looking for a book that's going to allow you to just back up from it all and have an easy, hilarious read (wherein I'm sure you'll learn something, too: I mean, did you already know how the U.S. acquired Guam as a territory? Phillips will tell you), then put this in your queue.

Is there an audiobook of this? If not, might I suggest one of the following to do the reading: John Cleese, Eric Idle, Billy Connelly, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Richard E. Grant, Timothy Dalton, Helen Mirren, Tilda Swinton.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin, and Hanover Square Press for the advance read.

Somewhat left-leaning diatribe. Not as funny as i expected. Makes a few good points but too much a polemic.