If the letters 'QI' mean anything to you, chances are you've seen the Stephen Fry-hosted BBC panel game of the same name and you know they stand for 'Quite Interesting'.

John Lloyd is the man behind QI and one of this book's authors. The Boook of General Ignorance follows the format of the QI TV show, throwing light on a huge range of common misconceptions.

I started reading this book while in hospital - the 280 odd very short stories were perfect for my drug induced short attention span. I was sad when I realised that I had left the unfinished book behind in my rush to discharge myself. But thanks to a human chain of kind strangers, the book was eventually returned to me and I have now learned the truth about how many wives Henry VIII had, the name of the highest mountain on Earth and where diamonds come from.

This book is for the people who know they don't know very much. It contains hundreds of things that the average person doesn't know. And it's quite interesting.