Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre by Aaron MahnkeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review
A written British Museum Enlightenment Room, Cabinet of Curiosities would make a great addition to any home library or a fun coffee table book for guests. Numerous little short stories, under such categories as American History, Coincidences, Fantastic Beasts, Bizarre Events, More Than Human, Origin Stories, etc., gave delight and some gasps. Remember when Tennessee was Franklin, a nuke was dropped on a South Carolina playhouse, and a Napoleon officer's idea eventually lead to Braille? You'll learn about all that and more.
Along with some learned knowledge tidbits, there were also some not so sure I should 100% believe all this, historical anecdotes that you're just going to have to take words for it, like a plumber who encountered ancient Romans. It was all in good fun though and I really enjoyed some of those, it will have you shining on trivia nights, stories, like how Wes Craven might have gotten the idea for Freddy Kruger and Locusta, who might have been one of the earliest hit-women.
If you're like me, these quick short stories won't be enough and I loved how the back of the book had a Sources section that had me furthering my reading on some topics and going down rabbit holes. Fun and interesting with some more well known and more obscure tidbits.
The format seems to adhere to the ethos of the physical cabinets of curiosity--and it's also reminiscent of a number of Readers' Digest table books of my childhood and youth, which compiled numerous historical/quasi-historical/outright myths into themed volumes. Mostly, they piqued my curiosity and had me diving into the closest Encyclopaedia for hours on end afterwards (Wikipedia for the late 1960s/early 1970s).
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