1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium

See Larger Image	Manufacturer: Kodansha America Written By: Agnes Hooper Gottlieb,Brent Bowers,Henry Gottlieb,Barbara Bowers Average Customer Rating:


Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 920.02 EAN: 9781568362533 ISBN: 1568362536 Label: Kodansha America Manufacturer: Kodansha America Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: 1998-11 Publisher: Kodansha America Studio: Kodansha America
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: a fun look at historical figures Comment: I know that some will disagree strongly with some of the rankings (I did) but this is a very fun way to look at important figures in history. There are traces of pro-American bias in the rankings but overall they appear to be well considered. A good book for a wide range of age and expertise levels. Customer Rating: Summary: Who remembers... Comment: Luckily the authors of this book don't take themselves too seriously, pointing out in their introduction that if they had "dined on fish and chips instead of hot dogs and sauerkraut the day we considered [the rankings,] the results might have been much different." They admit that there is no accurate way to rank the most important and influential people of the last thousand years. I have to agree with the reviewer who pointed out the apparent biases of the authors... they did make the effort to get "nominations" from friends and experts, but I doubt they had the time or funds to travel the globe to do so... thus the scope of the 1,000 people is limited, to be sure. Ok, so here's my main gripe... nowhere in the book is mentioned one of the world's most brilliant minds, Nikola Tesla. I mean, the man only invented alternating electric current (AC) which today brings power all over the world! He also invented modern radio, X-rays, and the vacuum tube amplifier just to name a few. He's not even mentioned as an aside... well, thank goodness Coco Chanel made it! An enjoyable read, if you want a rather lighthearted and brief look at some of the people who shaped the last 1,000 years. Customer Rating: Summary: very factful, lots of great and interesting information Comment: Before I write what I think, I'll say something. It is obvious that this book was done by a combination of liberals, Lutherans (who else would put Martin Luther at #3?) and well, pHds (pretty heavy dudes!). Here's the review: I found this book very interesting. It helped me give me a recap on history and what to think how the people that were ranked influenced everybody. I love being taught the casual way. Yes, there are a few disagreements, the main one being that Rosa Parks should be ranked higher than #944. Without her, M.L. King would not have made the Top 100. Am I right? Also cheers to putting Hugh Hefner on there and not J. Edgar Hoover and certain people. I have put together a list of people they should have included but I will share two people: -John Deere, the man who modernized tractors -Ted Turner, the one who helped millions of Americans spend their hard earned dough on cable television and who made it popular to watch. I thought it would be cool if they put an early television star on the list (hey, they put at least 5 movie stars on the list) such as Lucille Ball. Give it a read. Turns out this is great and it deserves to be on every history buff's shelf. Customer Rating: Summary: A very narrow view on a wide topic Comment: The intentions were probably noble in writing this book, but as an academic, I must say that I found this book to be biased in three ways: western-biased, Christian-biased and American-biased. Just noting the so called top-ten people listed shows these three FACTS. It neglects to mention the infuential acts of some whilst focusing only on their negative sides. A good example of this is Genghis Khan (ranked #43), entitled "Destroyer of Asia". Every other intelligent history reference text will tell the learned readers that the great Khan was instrumental in pacifying the passageway between East and West, in other words, the Silk Road, which at the turn of the millennium was a notoriously dangerous route to travel. With Genghis' conquests, whilst acknowldging the brutal methods his army undertook, the long term effect of this was peace along these trade/ travel routes. This pacification of the land route between East and West made possible the spread of goods and ideas, mainly from East to West. This incited the curiosity and imagination of thousands. This led, of course, to the Western appetite for Eastern goods, leading DIRECTLY to the massive maritime exploration of the West, driven by a desire to reach the East by sea. This led to Columbus' blunder into the Americas, etc. and the rest, they say, is history. Time magazine rates the great Khan as the man of the millennium, and rightfully so. And on a further note, why was the great Chinese admiral Zhung-He ommitted? This book, in a word, typical Christo-Western biased excrement. Do not waste money, borrow it from your local library and then return it with a sour aftertaste. The only reason I gave it one star was because it was the lowest on the Amazon scale. I didn't feel it deserved even that. Customer Rating: Summary: A Book of Trash, DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS PIECE OF CRAP! Comment: I bought this book and turned to who the top 10 people were and gosh, did I gripe. Come on, William Shakespeare as the top person of the millennium? Sure he did affect writing and the English language but how many lives did he affect DIRECTLY? Writers have had little effect on history compared to politicians, businesspeople and social activists. The authors exclude Bill Gates, saying he was only a salesman, when he helped to trigger one of the biggest increases in world growth in history. Gates helped to spark the IT revolution that boosted the incomes and living standards of millions across the globe. So did reading Hamlet ever feed or clothe anyone? NOT! The authors themselves admit to having a bias for writers in their book. So they do confess that they boo-booed. Take my advice and don't buy this complete piece of trash. More Reviews