Product Description

Packed with historical facts, seasonal activities and space to note your own adventures, 'The Dangerous Book for Boys Yearbook' will keep men and boys busy from January to December Stuffed with seasonal activities to do with your friends: when is conker season? Where can I roll giant cheeses and why? What is flounder tramping and do I really want to do it? Packed with useful historical facts to impress your friends: on what day was Isambard Kingdom Brunel born? When was the land speed record last broken and by whom? When were the Crown Jewels nearly stolen and how? And, on top of Conn and Hal Iggulden's fascinating and fun facts, there is space for you to add your own notes: when did you spot your first robin this year? Do you have a top tip for building the biggest and the best snowman? And is there a piece of family wisdom that you want to remember and treasure? Written with all the verve and wit that readers of 'The Dangerous Book for Boys' have come to love, and designed in the same beautiful packaging, it is a book to treasure -- and to use again and again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23223 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover

Review
Praise for 'The Dangerous Book for Boys' 'The perfect handbook for boys and dads.' Daily Telegraph 'Full of tips on how to annoy your parents'. Evening Standard 'An old-fashioned compendium of information on items such as making catapults and knot-tying!the end of the PlayStation may have been signalled.' The Times 'Just William would be proud. A new book teaching boys old-fashioned risky pursuits!has become a surprise bestseller.' Daily Mail 'If you want to know how to make crystals, master NATO's phonetic alphabet!and build a workbench, look no further.' Time Out 'Beautifully presented, this is full of new intruiging material to keep the boy in your life - be he eight or 80 - entertained for hours'. Belfast Telegraph "boys stuff that any enquiring mind will love' Scottish Daily Record Praise for Yearbook: "Packed with useful historical facts to impress your friends' Cork Evening Echo

From the Author
Introduction
With any luck, a Yearbook isn't just a way to plan a year, it's a way to record it. We really like the idea of stuffing news clippings and recipes into this one, and perhaps writing how proud you were to leave money under a child's pillow for his first tooth - remembering, of course, the cautionary tale of the child who slept with his head under the pillow, only to wake with a pile of coins and no teeth at all.

Without apology, it's a very British book. Given that the history of this island officially started with the arrival of Julius Caesar in 55 BC, you'll find Roman festivals in here, as well as hundreds of the characters and events that make this island such an odd place. Somehow, it only makes sense here that people go `flounder tramping' in Scotland, or that the world conker championship takes place in Kent. It is sometimes astounding how many of these activities still survive. Many have died out, of course, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Sparrow Mumbling, or the game of trying to bite the head off sparrows tied with thread, is no longer popular. In addition, the practice of wife-selling has now fallen from its heyday. Yet there are new ones being invented, such as the Mad Maldon Mud Race, which began with a pub bet in the 1970s. Perhaps it's something in the water that brings these things into existence and then maintains them through centuries.

We've always loved history and facts. It's difficult to say why we like knowing when blackberries are ripe for picking, or that the man who collected dismembered pieces of Captain Cook in Hawaii was William Bligh, later captain of the Bounty. Perhaps it's a sense of controlling the world around us, or being part of it instead of just observers.

We hope you'll find something interesting in here for every day of the year to come - and we hope you'll add more from your own family. Births, deaths and marriages are worth putting in, of course, but you might also write a line or two about the people you meet, the parties or friendships you enjoyed, and perhaps the day you saw six magpies and could not remember the old rhyme. In that way, it will be your book as much as anyone's.
Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden

About the Author
Born in London, Conn Iggulden read English at London University and worked as a teacher for seven years before becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and children. Conn Iggulden is the author of the number one bestselling Emperor series. Hal Iggulden was born in 1972. He lives in Leicester and is a theatre director with a love of astronomy, gadgets, dogs and football.

Customer Reviews

Every Boy from Six to Sixty Should Have One

I must have missed something along the way regarding the title of the book, and I certainly do not think it is the best choice, but that aside the book is a wealth of vital information for boys, young and old.

It is the type of book that William Brown (Just William) and his gang would have had hidden under the bed, or under a pile of dry leaves in the den.

It is full of vital information, stories of incredible courage, acts of bravery, the best places to capture your very own pirate. How to make a camera, even information about girls. There is information about dinosaurs, fishing (an essential pastime), even how to make crystals. All the things a young man needs to know about.

If you once owned a penknife with a special tool to take stones out of horses hooves, then this book is essential for you. And if you didn't well read it anyway, you will have lots of fun doing so.

One star off for a pedantically spotted error
It says in the blurb that this is a very British book. If it was, it might have the correct date for the moon landings. In Britain Neil Armstrong first stood on the moon on the 21st of July 1969, not the 20th. Due to the time difference it was at 2.56 GMT. A small point but could make a difference if you were planning an anniversary party!

There is also a slightly misleading part when it refers to Michael Collins remaining in the spacecraft. He remained in a different spacecraft to the one used by Aldrin and Armstrong for the lunar landing.

A Space Cadet
Edinburgh