Review by The Mole
I saw this on sale as I walked past a shop doorway and just felt I had to take a closer look. The first page I read was about some Rossian soldiers during the first world war and rumours that they started. I quickly became convinced I had made a mistake. Having started to read I found it addictive and I had appointments to keep.
This book is, despite the look of it, non-fiction and is a collection of facts gathered from too many sources to contemplate and totally based on fact. But these facts are not ordinary facts. The people involved in many of them would rather you didn't know these facts. Facts from film, radio, TV and many more sources that have caused many people very red faces. But there is one question I would like an answer to... why is it sold as a children's book? It is a while since my 18th birthday (in fact I have long since completed my 3rd 18th birthday) but I still find it entertaining, informative and amusing. I will admit that Mr Ardagh has written it in a style that makes it accessible to children but it does not adopt a condescending attitude that makes adults want to put it down. Well worth a read and if you are embarrassed to buy it for yourself then get it for a son, daughter, grandchild, niece, nephew or some random child on the street - just make sure you've read it before you pass it on.
Publisher - Macmillan Children's
Genre - Non-Fiction
Buy Philip Ardagh's Book of Howlers, Blunders and Random Mistakery
from Amazon
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