It Ended Badly: 13 of the Worst Breakups in History

A history of heartbreak spanning ancient Rome, medieval England, and 1950s Hollywood, examining thirteen of history's worst breakups and their consequences. The book covers cases including Emperor Nero, who had people he loved put to death during his heartbreak; Oscar Wilde's lover, whom he went to jail for, who abandoned him and later wrote self-serving books denying the affair; and Caroline Lamb, who sent Lord Byron a letter with a bloody lock of her own pubic hair. Jennifer Wright uses archival research to document these thirteen terrible breakups with wit and empathy. The book educates and entertains while contextualizing modern relationship behavior—such as obsessive social media stalking of exes—against historical examples. It serves as a reminder that regardless of how badly one has behaved in a breakup, few compare to Henry VIII.