The Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd & John Mitchinson [$19.95]

Did you know that a mere seven prisoners were freed when the Bastille was stormed in 1789? The glorious illustrations had you thinking hundreds, didn’t they? Did you know it was not Marie Antoinette who said “Let them eat cake”? And Hitler was not a vegetarian? Did you know that World War II did not end until 1990? For the know-it-all with solid faith in her education, be it from school text book or the common wisdom captured in a Hollywood film, this is a fun book that will rock her world. Peppered with words of wisdom from those whom we assume know better than the rest (e.g., “Light travels faster than sound — isn’t that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?” — Steven Wright), this is an eclectic collection of conceptions about our world proven wrong, and then righted. Or so they say.