What I Think Happened

September 15, 2017
Don't get Rosen started on Napoleon. As the comedian readily admits, she will find the most ingenious ways to turn any conversation to the subject of the fascinating little emperor. And it's not only Napoleon, but also much of Western history that Rosen takes on with a devil-may-care jauntiness in this wickedly funny romp. A heady mixture of overconfidence and underperformance, as Rosen tells it, led her to nearly fail her history studies in college, but her abiding love for everything that is strange about the personalities of the past remained. Rosen is someone who went on a historical walking tour of Boston Harbor for fun, who ran through the fields of Gettysburg, and who can unerringly match different military conflicts with the types of dad you should discuss them with. So her tour through history's greatest hits, from the ignoble side of the British monarchy to creepy artists and dumpy presidentseven the history of cheeseclearly stems from an infectious enthusiasm for her subjects. Oh, and did we mention there's a chapter on Napoleon?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)