A Load of Old Balls :The QI History of Sport
A Load of Old Balls :The QI History of Sport
paperback
Published:
4 July, 2024
Popular Books by James Harkin
View All Books by James Harkin
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS
'Top Bins! A personal best, a lap record and a hole in one for when rain has stopped play.' ALAN DAVIES
'The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent.' SPECTATOR
Did you know that Henry VIII owned the first pair of football boots? Or that David Attenborough is responsible for yellow tennis balls?
A Load of Old Balls is the curious story of us and sport. It's about our mind-blowingly determined attempts to be the fastest, the strongest, the most skilful. In this endlessly entertaining tale of play and belonging, astonishing violence and jaw-dropping cheating, we learn what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed and discover why Michael Palin was disqualified from a conker tournament. Crossing millennia, continents and cultures, Harkin and Ptaszynski - the brainy researchers for BBC's QI and co-hosts of No Such Thing As A Fish -show us sport as we've never seen it before.
**
Published in hardback as Everything to Play For.
**
For more from the team behind QI's hit TV show, check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia, their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9780571372546 |
| ISBN10 | 0571372546 |
| Number Of Pages | 400 |
| Item Weight | 1000 g |
| Publisher / Reseller | Faber & Faber |
| Format | paperback |
| Edition | Main |
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Anna Ptaszynski and James Harkin are senior researchers, writers and script-editors for the BBC's QI, and two-fourths of the award-winning podcast No Such Thing As A Fish. Between them, they have authored 13 books with the QI Elves and toured sell-out shows across the world, from the London Palladium to the Sydney Opera House.
They are long-suffering fan of Charlton Athletic and the Jacksonville Jaguars, respectively.