Overview
Did you know that Henry VIII owned the first pair of football boots? Or that David Attenborough is responsible for yellow tennis balls?
A Load of Old Balls is the curious story of us and sport. It's about our mind-blowingly determined attempts to be the fastest, the strongest, the most skillful. 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 QI and co-hosts of No Such Thing As A Fish – show us sport as we've never seen it before.
"The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent." SPECTATOR
** Published in hardback as Everything to Play For.
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