Related: For curated list of the 100 largest atrocities, ranked by largest loss of life, check out Matthew White's <i>The Great Big Book of Horrible Things</i> [0]<p>It grew out of his website, <i>Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century</i>, and while he is not an historian by profession (I believe he's a librarian), the book is very well researched (lots of footnotes, citations, etc.) and IMO, "fun" to read. (Only because of his style of writing, obviously not about the content)<p>Each event is a relatively short read, with decent background provided, though the book is quite long overall.<p>Spoiler: One of the items on the list is Caesar's Gallic Wars, and there are many dedicated to various events that transpired the Roman {Republic, Empire}<p>0. <a href="http://www.bookofhorriblethings.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bookofhorriblethings.com/</a><p>1. <a href="http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm" rel="nofollow">http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm</a>