A Load of Old Balls

<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS<br><br>''</b><b>Top Bins! A personal best, a lap record and a hole in one for when rain has stopped play.'' ALAN DAVIES<br></b><b>''The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent.'' <i>SPECTATOR</i></b><br><br><b>Did you know that Henry VIII owned the first pair of football boots? Or that David Attenborough is responsible for yellow tennis balls?</b><br><br><i>A Load of Old Balls</i> is the curious story of us and sport. It''s about our mind-blowingly determined attempts to be the fastest, the strongest, the most skilful. In this endlessly entertaining tale of play and belonging, astonishing violence and jaw-dropping cheating, we learn what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed and discover why Michael Palin was disqualified from a conker tournament. Crossing millennia, continents and cultures, Harkin and Ptaszynski – the brainy researchers for BBC''s <i>QI</i> and co-hosts of <i>No Such Thing As A Fish –</i>show us sport as we’ve never seen it before.<br><br>**<br><br>Published in hardback as <i>Everything to Play For</i>.<br><br>**<br><br>For more from the team behind QI''s hit TV show, check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia, their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com.</p>