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Title: Careless History but a Good Yarn
Review: The book is a good yarn, I argue, because it brings human scandal (esp. sex, cruelty, pride) into historical narratives, which can sometimes be dry. However, there no serious treatment of the history, no annotation, which is a terrible disappointment. Usually, when you read a history book, you can say "Oh, that's interesting, I'd like to learn more" and find further reading in the endnotes or bibliographical essay. None is provided here; so when Manchester says, "As one historian writes..." there is no way to see who that person was or continue with the thread.
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