The Book of General Ignorance
Edited by Stephen Fry
Faber and Faber £12.99
This book is a tie in to the QI (meaning Quite Interesting) TV series and is a collection of interesting facts that will prove we all know less than we believe. Billed as a collection of common misconceptions, mistakes and misunderstandings that will make us wonder why we ever went to school.
It's the type of book that will be dipped into from time to time and leave you thinking - 'well I never knew that.'
If you think Henry VIII had six wives, that the Earth has only one moon and that Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain then you need this book.
For example:
Henry VIII had only two wives - his fourth marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. This is different from divorce and legally means the marriage never took place. The Pope declared Henry's second marriage to Anne Boleyn illegal because he was still married to Catherine of Aragon, Henry, as head of the new Church of England, declared that his first marriage was invalid on the legal grounds that a man could not sleep with his brother's widow. The King cited the Old Testament, which he claimed as God's law', whether the Pope liked it or not.
Henry annulled his marriage to Ann Boleyn just before having her executed for adultery and he did the same with his fifth wife Catherine Howard.
Humans actually have four nostrils - two you can see and two internal ones that you cannot of course see.
Antarctica is the driest place on Earth - certain areas haven't seen rain for two million years.
George Washington's teeth previously belonged to a hippopotamus.
Coffee is not made from beans.
The largest thing a blue whale can swallow is a grapefruit.
These and countless other interesting and often astounding facts make up this collection.
