Teachers' Strangest Tales
Teachers' Strangest Tales

Author: Iain Spragg

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-06-09

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1911042599

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A hilarious assortment of the weirdest and wackiest tales ever to come out of the classroom – and they’re all true. Featuring the flamboyant swimming teacher who spent his spare time fighting bears, the story of how a fight with his teacher paved the way for Al Capone’s infamous crime empire, and the bizarre tale of the American teacher who sued her own pupils for not paying attention in her lesson, this book is a real education. An ideal end-of-year teacher gift, this fascinating book is also a must-read for anyone who’s ever been to school. So stop talking at the back, pay attention and start reading! Word count: 45,000

Tennis's Strangest Matches
Tennis's Strangest Matches

Author: Peter Seddon

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-06-09

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1911042564

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In this hugely entertaining collection of stories taken from over a hundred years of world tennis history, award-winning sports historian Peter Seddon has gathered together the most extraordinary events ever to occur on a tennis court. They include the Wimbledon final between the tea-drinking vicar and a convicted murderer, and the ‘Match of the Century’ between the ‘Women’s Libber’ and the ‘Male Chauvinist Pig’. There are matches played on board ship and on the wings of an airborne plane, a game played in full regimental dress, and meet the player who rated himself so highly he played an entire match while carrying someone ‘piggy-back’. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of tennis fanatics, this book is a unique look at the curiosities of an endlessly popular sport, revealing the ‘strawberries and cream’ game as you’ve never seen it before. Word count: 45,000

Motor Racing's Strangest Races
Motor Racing's Strangest Races

Author: Geoff Tibballs

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-06-09

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1911042572

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Since 1894, when motor racing’s colourful history began with a bang (and a banger!), drivers, racers and lunatics alike have done many stupid and bizarre things all in the name of motor sport. Author Geoff Tibballs has gathered together this absorbing collection of stories from over a century of motor racing around the world, including the Frenchman who drove 25 miles in reverse, the Grand Prix in which the leading drivers were so far ahead that they stopped for a meal in the pits, the Le Mans 24-hour race won by a car patched up with chewing gum, and the driver who drank six bottles of champagne – virtually one per pit-stop – on the way to winning the Indianapolis 500. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of petrolheads, this book contains enough extraordinary-but-true tales to drive anyone around the bend. Word count: 45,000

Medicine's Strangest Cases
Medicine's Strangest Cases

Author: Michael O'Donnell

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-04-04

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1911042432

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Medicine’s Strangest Cases is a choice prescription of weird and wonderful tales from the history of medicine, featuring the German doctor who fought a duel with a sausage, the Harley Street physician-turned-novelist who invented a disease – and its remedy – to keep his clients happy, and the quiet and cautious Swiss scientist who inadvertently unleashed LSD on the world. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for 2016, this book is the perfect gift for medical students, clinicians, hypochondriacs and history fans. Laugh out loud and wince with sympathy with this rundown of the most bizarre medical cases ever. Word count: 45,000

Cricket's Strangest Matches
Cricket's Strangest Matches

Author: Andrew Ward

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-04-04

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1911042408

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Cricket’s Strangest Tales is a fascinating collection of cricketing weirdness – and there’s a lot of it to choose from! Within these pages you’ll find a game that was played on ice, meet a plague of flying ants who failed to dampen players’ enthusiasm, and examples of the grand old tradition of one-armed teams versus one-legged teams. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Fully revised, redesigned and updated with a selection of new material for 2016, this book is the perfect gift for the cricket fanatic in your life. Word count: 45,000 words

London's Strangest Tales
London's Strangest Tales

Author: Tom Quinn

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1911042300

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London’s Strangest Tales takes a walk on London’s weirder side with an absorbing collection of curious tales from one of the world’s greatest cities. This fascinating book is packed with amazing things you didn’t know about Britain’s capital, like the fact that it’s still forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in the Burlington Arcade, and the fat lamppost at the corner of Trafalgar Square that is secretly a tiny prison cell. And did you know that the entrance to Buckingham Palace you see from the Mall is actually the back door and not the front? The stories within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of London-lovers, this book is a brilliant alternative guide to the city, whether you’re a visitor, a daily commuter or one of its 8 million inhabitants. Word count: 45,000

Golf's Strangest Rounds
Golf's Strangest Rounds

Author: Andrew Ward

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-04-04

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 1911042416

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‘The most eccentric golf book ever’ Sports and Leisure Magazine Golf’s Strangest Rounds is an absorbing collection of bizarre tales from the lengthy annals of the sport’s history. There are stories of tragedy, eccentricity, tactical slipups and ones that defy categorization altogether – meet ‘Mysterious Montague’, for example, one of the world’s best golfers but a man who refused ever to compete in a tournament. You’ll find plenty of golfing greats here – Gene Sarazen, Chip Beck, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo – all of whom have played their parts in irrational finishes, record rounds and famous freak shots. The tales within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Fully revised, redesigned and updated, this book is the perfect gift for any golf fanatic. Word count: 45,000

Football's Strangest Matches
Football's Strangest Matches

Author: Andrew Ward

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1911042289

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‘It’s a funny old game.’ The world’s favourite sport has certainly given us its fair share of strange moments, and this absorbing collection gathers together the best of them, from more than a century of the beautiful game. From Blackburn Rovers’ one-man team to Wilfred Minter’s seven-goal haul in which he still ended up on the losing side, here are goals and gaffes galore drawn from all levels of the footballing world, whether high-profile internationals or the lowest tiers of domestic football. The stories in this book are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for a new generation of football fanatics, this book is the perfect gift for the soccer obsessive in your life. Word count: 45,000 words

Rugby's Strangest Matches
Rugby's Strangest Matches

Author: John Griffiths

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-02-12

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 1911042297

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Rugby fans will delight in this astonishing collection of outlandish stories from the past 150 years of the game. Here you’ll find, among many other curious events, the Irish international who arranged his marriage in order to play against England, the team of top soccer players who beat their rugby counterparts at their own game, the day the entire Wales team was sent off, and when in an astonishing turn of events underdog Japan trimphed and beat South Africa (and who doesn't love an underdog). The tales in this book are bizarre, fascinating, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for 2016, this book makes the perfect gift for the rugby obsessive in your life. Word count: 45,000

Shakespeare's Strangest Tales
Shakespeare's Strangest Tales

Author: Iain Spragg

Publisher: Portico

Published: 2016-04-04

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1911042394

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A fascinating playbill of stories from the weird and wonderful world of Shakespearean theatre through the centuries, including distinguished actors falling off stages, fluffed lines, performances in the dark, and why you must never, ever say the name of that Scottish play, especially if you are Peter O'Toole. Discover a wealth of Shakespearean shenanigans over the years, including the terrible behaviour of the groundlings at Shakespeare's Globe, how the 'rude mechanicals' in A Midsummer Night's Dream got recast as a bunch of ladies from the WI, and how Dame Maggie Smith got even with Sir Laurence Olivier. Published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, this treasury of curious tales is a must-read for all Shakespeare lovers and theatre fans. Word count: 45,000