The Interesting Bits - Justin Pollard

This book is essential for anyone that enjoys the TV series QI (with Stephen Fry and Alan Davis) or anyone who enjoys reading Quite Interesting facts about history. The author does in fact write for QI, so there is a real connection to the show. The format of the book is a series of loosely themed chapters, each one containing a number of interesting facts and stories, and each given an intriguing title. Of course sometimes the title is more interesting than the explanation, but by that time you are on to the next title and explanation and before you know it an hour has gone by. This is a great book to just dip into and read when you have a few ...  Read the complete review

Created by one of the writers of the usually amusing TV show 'QI', this is a compendium of the supposedly more interesting parts of history that were never mentioned in history lessons. It addresses questions such as 'Who was the original Nosy Parker?' and 'Which English king exploded', and also tells us where terms such as 'taking the mickey' originate from. At first glance this looks like an amusing, informative 'coffee table' book. It's well set out, with 20 chapters each covering around 10 historical questions, all of which are listed in the contents page. This means you can quickly glance through, find a question that you like the sound of, and turn to ...  Read the complete review

"There is one problem with history, however - there is an awful lot of it." Claims the introduction of 'The Interesting Bits, The History You Might Have Missed.' So I was eager to see how a book of less than three hundred pages managed to squeeze and crop hundreds of years worth of history down into the confines of it's covers, but more importantly entertain and of course educate the reader. The book basically attempts to make history fun and highlight the interesting and often funny facts of the past. There are some very interesting statements in the book such as 'Who first fell prey to the curse of Tecumseh?' and 'Why did Joan Of Arc fight the English" ...  Read the complete review