*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

As odd as it sounds this book was a fun read! While learning about important people their death is usually covered, but to have a book that focuses on the deaths of these people is something different. I found this book engaging and interesting and I needed to keep reading to see what the next strange death would be. If you are a fan of history, or odd subject topics this book is for you!

A fascinating insight into a large number of weird causes of death throughout history. I loved the author's dry sense of humour that accompanied many of stories.
The Christian saints seem to have suffered more than their fair share of terribly violent and inventive executions. It is very hard to imagine the amount of pain that they had to endure during their last hours on earth. It was also surprising that some of the 'Saints' could also be very sadistic, inflicting carnage on innocent victims.
Many of the people covered in the book are perfect candidates for the Darwin Awards (which recognises individuals who have contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilized by their own actions).
I enjoyed this book so much, I am going to recommend it to my local Book Club.

This was a very interesting read.
It's really interesting and fun fast read as the author has a very engaging way to write about this bizarre, some even funny, deaths.
I highly recommend it to all fans of weird and interesting historic facts and that also enjoy the macabre facts.

Strange Ways to Die in History is a collection of some of the weirdest deaths in recorded history. This exploration throughout the times is definitely a 'fun' read for those with a sense of morbid curiosity. This is a book you could easily sit through and read from start to finish or, if you prefer, read small chunks throughout your day and enjoy this way. The addition of images towards the end of the book was something I found rather interesting and provided a greater insight of the strange deaths held within these pages.

If you're a history buff this is your next read!

Thank you to the publishers and Ben Gazur for the ARC

*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

From the outset this feels like a morbid book to read and enjoy, but enjoy I did! Strange Ways to Die in History is very well researched, extremely informative without being tedious. It was like reading mini QI exerpts (in the best way!). There were a couple of grammatical errors towards the end of the book, but I imagine these will be fixed before publication. The photos and pictures at the end of the book were a nice touch.

4/5

Very,very interesting book. I couldn't put it down once I started and enjoyed every moment I spent reading it.

A must read! Horrible histories meets 1000 ways to die. I loved this book! Each character’s death is told without rambling, but with enough detail to keep it interesting, widely being tiresome. It’s a great book to pick up and put down as each story is only a page or 2, but you may find, as did I, that you can’t put it down, and end up finishing the whole thing in one sitting, because it’s so interesting. I’ll be looking out for further works by this author

An enjoyable book a strange, funny or just weird deaths throughout history. It is presented in quick stories which make it an excellent book to read on the the go or when you have to go to the bathroom (which some of the deaths involve). quick read that shows that one common denominator for us all is death..hopefully in not such a way that will end up in a further volume of this book.

Strange Ways to Die in History by Ben Gazur is an enthralling exploration into a scintillatingly macabre topic. Each of us will die one day, though few live like today is our last. Of the countless ways to die, these are some of the most ghoulish, embarrassing and stupefying. The author provides a caveat...not all details are completely accurate but they are wherever possible. He also notes that the all involved are "outside of living memory" and stories include people who lived in ancient times, middle ages and in the Victorian era and everything between.

Death...and how a culture and era views it...says a lot about the socio-economic condition, mores and lifestyle. Archaeologists and anthropologists must have many aha moments in their jobs. The writing style is conversational and at times comedic, a very accessible and easy read. Hopefully there is another batch in the works!

Amongst the most interesting stories include Draco who was honoured and lauded by his people but succumbed to suffocation beneath clothes thrown in (on) his path, a poisoned quill used as a toothpick caused gangrene and death, lumps of molten lead poured down throats, being frightened to death at parties, tripping and falling down marble stairs, toxic mushrooms, swung by the heels by a clown and a hapless snake forced down an equally hapless man's throat.

Intrigued? Don't miss this if you are mesmerized by the weird and unusual.

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this riveting book.

Honestly, this one is just fun. It's interesting to read about the strange ways people have perished in history. I think any history buff will enjoy this one.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Pen & Sword via NetGalley.

This book delves into the bizarre, curious, and sometimes downright peculiar demises that individuals have met throughout history. It explores unusual accidents, peculiar assassinations, and extraordinary misfortunes that led to unexpected deaths. The book intriguingly unravels true stories behind odd incidents, such as a playwright allegedly meeting his end due to a tortoise dropped by an eagle, an English vicar becoming prey to lions, and the surprising fatality rates associated with falling into toilets. Through these unusual tales, it sheds light on both well-known and forgotten individuals, showcasing how their deaths offer insights into societies and their collective remembrance.

This book is an absolute treat for history enthusiasts like myself, having delved into the pages of history as a major in college. What a delight it was! The book's concise and well-structured narrative kept me engaged from start to finish. Each story, more peculiar than the last, unfolded with clarity and precision, making it easy to absorb the intriguing and often odd demises of historical figures. The organization of the book allowed for a seamless journey through these unusual yet fascinating events. For any fellow history lovers seeking a riveting read that takes a curious dive into the more eccentric tales of the past, this book certainly delivers.

This was an enjoyable and amusing read. It details strange ways in which people have died throughout history. Definitely entertaining. You should also know that the book is more encyclopedic and can easily be picked up/put down at any time. There's no storyline here other than the underlying theme of unusual demises.

Thank you to Pen & Sword, Netgalley and the author Ben Gazur for an ebook in exchange for my honest review.
This book is one big collection of, like the title suggests, weird, interesting and bizarre ways people have perished. The book is split into three parts, allowing it to tell stories from antiquity to now. One issue I had was that, while it did say in the beginning of the book that not all of these stories were based on reliable sources, each individual story did not feature a discussion of the reliability of it specifically. Also, the language at times was in a weird spot, at an awkward place being in between fully formal and fully joking. Overall, this book is a fun read.

Strange Ways to Die in History is a fun romp of a book if you have a sense of morbid curiosity. The vignettes appearing in this edition cover the strange, funny, and perhaps uncomfortable ways in which people have met their end of the mortal coil. The humor within never felt heavy-handed, but I think humor is subjective and you should tread lightly if morbid humor isn't your thing. This was a quick read, I read it in one day, but this would also be suitable for those who wish to pick it up and read a few pages here and there.
This book would make for a great gift for those who enjoy dark humor, history, or who want to explore the ways in which people face and came to terms with their demise. Thank you to Pen and Sword and NetGalley for providing an eARC for my review. I'm looking forward for the full release so I can add this book to my collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Strange Ways to Die in History.

A great title for a hilarious book recounting the hilarious, disturbing, and ironic ways people have died in history.

Apparently, the further we go back in time, the oddest and unusual the deaths are, including death by toilet, getting knocked off your horse, bumping your head on a door

The author makes a great point by noting that sometimes how a person dies, and how history has recorded the event, tells us a lot about society, the social and political context at the time and how we remember.

Death will come to us all, but hopefully it will be a peaceful one for most of us, and not the weird, bizarre, and unusual ways like what happened to the people in this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

‘Strange Ways to Die in History’ is an interesting read and it was good read

Rating 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From a king who’s thrown collapsed and killed him to a defense attorney showing how a man could accidentally pull out a gun and shoot him self and then does it there’s an arch Duchess who’s woolen dress caught on fire and burned her to death a man who king Olaf wanted to convert to Christianity and because he wouldn’t stuck a snake down his throat in the snake promply ate its way out, Killing the man… I mean that’s Christianity at its best isn’t it? They have some really unbelievable stories as well like there was a king named Heliogabalus and they claim he would have flowers fall out of the ceiling and sometimes there would be so many they were guest who would die from not being able to get out of the pile of flora not to mention he would also have inflatable furniture that he would let the air out of this was just for laugh and this is something I only mention because I did not at all believe this this was in 220 CE and balloons and inflatable anything wasn’t invented until 1828… But I can say with the amount of information in this book how some dubious information may get in but there’s more of it that is provable than just this one faux pas that I am wasting this review on… My apologies. There’s even some modern day deths that I found interesting but then again I found the whole book interesting dubious or not this is a great book and I believe any history fan who likes the dark and macabre will definitely love this history book. The author did a great job putting in lots of stories and some are one-liners and some can go on for pages but all are very interesting. I want to think Pen and Sword history and NetGalley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Death is a very serious subject. Except when it isn’t. This text is so funny that I had to laugh out loud several times. Yes, I have a dark sense of humor, but the author is actually very smart, and never cruel, with his puns. From antiquity, this is a compendium of weird, funny, or unusual deaths. Some famous people, others who are unknown. Philosophers, doctors, scientists, kings, soldiers and just normal folk. Some are legends, others are documented. The author doesn’t explore more recent demises but ends with the early twentieth century. This is a fast, easy read, that made me learn history too. It reminded me a bit of the Chronicles of St. Mary's time travel series, where the characters try to find out if the deaths of famous people were really as reported. Since we don’t have a time machine, this will do.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Pen & Sword History.

This reminded me a bit of the Darwin Awards, that mock-prize "awarded" to people that die in the stupidest circumstances as a result of their own foolish actions, although this book doesn't intend to mock such deaths because most are more tragic and accidental and fewer resulting from poor judgment and stupidity. Which I appreciate.

I approached this book thinking it'd cover what the title promises: strange deaths in strange circumstances. As in, out of the ordinary and for uncommon reasons. In that sense, it did deliver, as the deaths here, chronologically listed from Classical Antiquity to our day, are indeed in strange circumstances.

However, the writing and the delivery weren't up to expectations. This reads like a collection of mini-vignettes that would belong more in a Wikipedia or Buzzfeed article than a history book. It's very superficial, doesn't always discuss the credibility of claims except to remark here and there that sources might be doubtful, and often talks about other people when the heading says it's about a certain personage, and mixes actual historical facts for which we have sources even if deficient with what might as well be mythical or metaphorical stories, such as when Gazur includes stories from the Bible here, for which we don't have independent sourcing and that, given the nature of the Bible, might as well be allegories or stories to convey a point. I think Gazur should've stuck with the purely historical and left the Old Testament out.

It's a very short book, and you probably won't learn anything of much value if you're looking for historical knowledge, but you'll find entertainment, which I think is the aim here given its tone, writing style, delivery, and overall pop history feel.

‘Fun’ seems like too cheerful a word considering the subject matter, but the fact is, this book of short vignettes really was a lot of fun to read. It would make a wonderful coffee table or bathroom book.