Everything You Know About the World is Wrong

A fascinating and humorous read that debunks the surprising myths about the world we always believed. The latest addition to the popular Everything You Know series, this book will blow apart your beliefs in the world's physical and social landscape, leaving you staggered by astounding facts about geography, nature, cities and the people who inhabit them. Indulge your curiosity and you'll find a plethora of myths, legends and misquotes that have shaped the way you view the world today.

Convinced the world is round? Think again! It's actually flatter at the poles. Have the Sahara down as the world's biggest desert? It's actually Antarctica. Learn how the Mayans got it wrong when they predicted the world would end in 2012 and how a heatwave in 2003 led to a worldwide shortage of wine.

Brimming with facts about the world, how it works and the way we live in it, this illuminating book will guide you through the minefield of misinformation to answer questions such as whether overpopulation could be solved by colonising space (only if we were prepared to bankrupt our planet in the process!), what is the shortest geographical name in the world (the answer is `A', a district in Sweden and Norway meaning `river'), and why you shouldn't measure earthquakes on the Richter scale. Discovering untruths about people and places, geography and the environment, Everything You Know About The World Is Wrong provides a hugely entertaining insight into the world we live in.