Rating: 
Summary: Witty tome
Review: I recommend this book to anyone who wants not only a crash course in a variety of topics ranging from geopolitics to Edgar Allen Poe to economic theory, but also for anyone wanting a witty, offbeat take on any of these subjects. The authors were educated at Ivy League universities but contend they received their real education while writing this book. It's not very hard to believe. You'll find an amazing amount of information and knowledge packed into this tome. I regularly consult it as a sort of mini-encyclopedia when there is a topic I only know vaguely about. It's also a lot of fun to flip through. One of the most valued books on my bookcase!
Rating:
Summary: Even anti-intellectuals should treasure this wonderful book.
Review: I first flipped through this book my sophmore year of college, and I immediately fell in love with the immense breadth of it's scope. The best sections by far are "Philosophy" and "World History" sections, since most people forget their history 10 minutes after the last bell rings in high school and get little exposure to philosophy at all beyond the name Freud. Reminded me why I went to college in the first place with discussions of Art, Religion, Film, and even Economics! Many people may be put off by what they percieve as a flippant tone, but to many of us in college, this was how we really talked about and discussed the subjects we studied, "Holding Forth" dialogue, is what I call it. The absolute best way to introduce this sort of material to the layman, since it's often discussed by such drydrydrydry and boring lecturers who have no sense of presentation or keeping their audiences awake. This book isn't meant to be a textbook, so LAY THE FRELL OFF THE AUTHORS FOR NOT WRITING IT LIKE ONE!! If my organic chemistry texts had been written with half as much intelligence and wit, I'd probably be working for the Centers for Disease Control by now.
Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete And Holding...
Review: The book is pretty great, and funny. Especially the observation about the French - "not team players" - puts so much in a nice neat nutshell. Anyway, one reader commented on an error - that the book claims that Alexander the Great was a Muslim. Actually, the book never said that, but it DOES say that Muslims consider Alexander the Great a prophet, which is accurate. And they consider him a Muslim as a result as they do Jesus and Moses.
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