Truly Peculiar: Fantastic Facts That Are Stranger Than Fiction

Review The Father Christmas of knowledge -- Giles CorenPraise for Go Figure:Books like this make you wary of ever guessing the answer to anything -- Mark Mason ― Daily Mail Product Description Our extraordinary world makes more (and sometimes less) sense when you wonder:What's driving the international turkey-meat boom?How does a cannonball determine a maritime boundary?Where can you wed your mobile phone?Why do septuagenarians have a better chance of summiting Mount Everest than ever?The ever-keen minds of The Economist Explains solve all these riddles and more in their latest encyclopaedic excursion around the globe. Baffle your friends and colleagues with unconventional headscratchers that shed surprising light on science, culture, world affairs and more. From the underground trade in hair to Hollywood's role in the creation of the snow globe, Truly Peculiar takes a walk on the weird side. Book Description Another bestselling collection of astonishing explainers from The Economist About the Author Tom Standage is Deputy Editor of The Economist. He is the author of several books, including Uncommon Knowledge, Seriously Curious,Writing on the Wall: Social Media - The First 2,000 Years and The Victorian Internet. His writing has appeared in TheNew York Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Wired.