From the introduction: You sit in the last class of your school day. The rest of the day flies by but this class always drags on forever. History is your favorite subject but this is not your favorite teacher. From pop quizzes to verbal humiliations, Ms. Tapper has a knack for making everything painful. Today she is in a bad mood. She walks up and down the aisles, lecturing to her class while she slaps a ruler in her hand. If she feels that the students aren’t paying sufficient attention, which is often, she smacks the ruler down loudly on their desk and scares the shit out of everyone. SMACK! Everyone jumps in their seats. Ms. Tapper smirks a little as she keeps talking. “Which brings us to the Industrial Revolution,” she says.