Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had put this book off for quite some time, and was initially very excited about it. I had read about 1/2 of the first chapter while at a friends house and was blown away by the blunt treatment of a sensitive subject. I was also hopeful that an author with a very readable yet authoritative style was about to present a side of history that is so rarely told. In the end, I was disapointed to the point that I could barely finish the work. To start off, the premise is exceptional - that part of the reason human history is so repeatedly violent is it is presented from the glorious leader's - the elite's - standpoint, and not the suffering individuals which are either the cogs of the machine or trampled in its path. To this end the first chapter starts with a bang - presenting nothing more than an excerpt from Columbus' journal - which makes me question how the hell we could have glorified him so much in grade school. It is unfortunate that this point could not be carried through the rest of the work. A brief sample of complaints: 1) Lack of sources. Of course history is opinionated - I expected and accepted that at the outset from this work - but he very rarely even makes an attempt to justify outlandish historical claims with objective evidence. For example, saying 'a study of 303...executives.... showed that 90% came from upper or middle class.....making rags to riches a....useful myth for control.' Immediately I ask: a) Was that typical of the population at large? b) Was the majority of that sample middle class, who themselves were only one generation away from lower class? These would seem to impact is argument greatly. 2) Lack of perspective. Related to the above, he will often use specific situations (which are moving) to make his point, but give no overall perspective of how representative a sample is to the population at large. This is a very basic request of an historical interpretation. We live in a very, very, large country, and individual stories of any nature are a dime a dozen - if you give me no perspective, how am I to know if this is the average, or the extreme? Life is full of tragedy - his attempted point is that this tragedy in America has been systematic. Thus, it is reasonable to expect anectdotal information to be backed by credible (or the best available) accounts possible. Ironic that a work painted as 'scholarly' lacks this core component. 3) His bizzarre insistance that American slavery was the worst slavery in the history of the world. It seems strange to discuss which form of something as degrading as slavery was 'better', but to clearly and repeatedly state that America was the worst place ever to be a slave seems absurd. Take for instance the aftermath of the Roman slavery rebellion led by Spartacus - I believe over 5000 people (who surrendered) were systematically crucified across the country. I very much doubt American slavery could compete though, even if it could, it seems almost petty to argue it as such. Its too bad. This is an immensely important topic which deserves comprehensive, scholarly treatment. If this is what you were expecting from this book, keep looking.