
Fierce History
5,000 years of startling stories from Ireland and around the globe
Colin Murphy(Author)
O'Brien Press Ltd
Published on 29. October 2018
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-78849-029-0 (ISBN)
Description
Bestselling author, Colin Murphy, explores the historical figures and events that have existed for centuries in the fringes and brings them out into the open for the reader. Full of historical stories which will intrigue you, captivate you, revolt you and even make you laugh! Colin Murphy welcomes you into the fringes of history where shocking stories and compelling facts await you...
Fierce History is a collection of bizarre, grotesque and unexpected episodes from history from all over the world, and from ancient to more modern including:
Siblings of famous people
Al Capone's brother who hunted down illegal distillers
Irishman Frank Shackleton, brother of legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest, who was pretty much rubbish at everything, and may have stolen the Irish Crown Jewels
Napoleon's sex-maniac sister
Weird historical incidents
Flaming camels of war,
Living turkey parachutes;
Crazy assassination attempts
Bizarre medical practices:
Dr Evan O'Neill Kane, who in 1921 performed an appendectomy on himself.
'Radioactive water' to cure arthritis, gout, neuralgias, poor circulation and a variety of other illnesses - eh, no, it just kills you.
Remarkable children:
William Rowan Hamilton by the age of twelve could speak fourteen languages, and went on to discover the quaternion, essential to the development of modern theories of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics, scratching his new mathematical formula on to the side of Broom Bridge in north Dublin
Fierce History is a collection of bizarre, grotesque and unexpected episodes from history from all over the world, and from ancient to more modern including:
Siblings of famous people
Al Capone's brother who hunted down illegal distillers
Irishman Frank Shackleton, brother of legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest, who was pretty much rubbish at everything, and may have stolen the Irish Crown Jewels
Napoleon's sex-maniac sister
Weird historical incidents
Flaming camels of war,
Living turkey parachutes;
Crazy assassination attempts
Bizarre medical practices:
Dr Evan O'Neill Kane, who in 1921 performed an appendectomy on himself.
'Radioactive water' to cure arthritis, gout, neuralgias, poor circulation and a variety of other illnesses - eh, no, it just kills you.
Remarkable children:
William Rowan Hamilton by the age of twelve could speak fourteen languages, and went on to discover the quaternion, essential to the development of modern theories of electromagnetism and quantum mechanics, scratching his new mathematical formula on to the side of Broom Bridge in north Dublin
Reviews / Votes
Colin Murphy welcomes you to the fringes of history where shocking stories and compelling facts await you -- Dungarvan ObserverMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Dublin
Ireland
Illustrations
60 Illustrations, black and white; 120 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
382 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78849-029-0 (9781788490290)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2018
O'Brien Press Ltd
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Colin Murphy is the author of more than two dozen books and co-author of the bestselling 'Feckin' collection (The O'Brien Press). His debut historical novel Boycott (Brandon) was published in 2012 to great acclaim. In his spare time, he is a dedicated hillwalker, and frequently contributes articles to MountainViews.ie.