Pears Cyclopaedia 2004-2005 (113th edition) (A Compendium of curious and useful information about things that everyone ought to know) Book

For anyone who feels daunted by the unfathomable size and relentless growth of the Information Revolution--millions of Internet sites and thousands of large-format increasingly specialist reference books--Pears Cyclopaedia, pocket sized and as comprehensive as ever in its 110th edition, might be the answer. It's hard to think of any other book which comes anywhere near managing to combine a pretty detailed art guide, literary companion, biographical dictionary, political compendium, Bible concordance, medical dictionary, world gazetteer, almanac of dates, and much more, all in the rather quaint and appealing way that Pears has been doing so well since 1887. Although the new cover is quite up-beat and this proclaims itself the "General Election Edition" with plenty of data dating from 1999 and 2000, the old fashioned font, deliberately retained from the century before last, makes it a comforting little book. It is, as usual, laid out in sections. This time there are 22, beginning with Events--historical and contemporary--and ending with Atlas of the World, having taken in (for example) Money Matters and Dictionary of Computing on the way. Thus we can learn that in French music "Belgian Cesar Franck (1822-90) was the main figure in the mid-19th-cent" and only a few pages further on that Ballyhennessy Seal was the greyhound which won the 1945 Derby or that the Roman name for South Shields was Caer Urfa. For curious people, crossword addicts, writers, students, teachers or quiz setters, Pears is probably the most useful all-purpose reference book there's ever been and it doesn't take up too much room. Keep it handy and use it as an investigative starting point on almost anything. --Susan ElkinRead More