Brief Biographies of 101 Important People

Philosopher George Santayana was reported to have said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." To be an educated person, there is clearly some value in having at least a casual familiarity with events of our past. Those who are seriously committed to this discipline may wade through a biography of several hundred pages about the more prominent people while being ignorant of others. The purpose of this book is to provide a brief overview of the pertinent facts about a wide range of deceased people who impacted the development of western civilization from Christopher Columbus to Martin Luther King, Jr. Each biography is presented in the order of birth and is no more than two pages long, capturing the essential facts of their life. The book includes biographies of heroes as well as villains.