Ian Crofton

Ever wondered where noodles came from? How Worcester Sauce was invented? Or even who the 'Cucumber King of Burma' was? Beginning with the hippo soup eaten in Africa in 6000 BC, through to the dangerous blowfish enjoyed in contemporary Japan, A Curious History of Food and Drink reveals the bizarre origins of the food and drink consumed throughout history. From the pheasant brains and flamingo tongues scoffed by the Roman emperor Vitellius, to the unusual uses of liquorice (once a treatment for sore feet) - Ian Crofton makes use of original sources - including journals, cookbooks and manuals - to reveal the bizarre, entertaining and informative stories behind the delicacies enjoyed by our ancestors.

Ian Crofton, former editor-in-chief of The Guinness Encyclopedia, has written a wide range of other general reference books, including Philosophy (Teach Yourself Instant Reference) and Science Without the Boring Bits. With Big Ideas in Brief , Crofton provides an accessible tour of 200 key concepts that really matter. The ideas covered come from a wide range of subjects--Philosophy, Religion, Politics, Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, the Arts, and Science. A series of short, lively articles, accompanied by 100 illustrations, introduces a host of diverse topics, from Existentialism to Expressionism, from Consciousness to Constitutionalism, from Feminism to Free Trade, from Class to Cognitive Theory, from Reincarnation to Relativityâ??all explained simply and clearly.

By turns bizarre, surprising, trivial, and enlightening, this book offers rich pickings for the browser, and entertainment and inspriation aplenty for those who have grown weary of more conventional works of history.

From the Big Bang to the future of our planet, The Little Book of Big History divides history into manageable but comprehensive time frames, encompassing the cosmos, the stars, life and everything in between.Big History is the attempt to understand and condense the entire story of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to the current day. Combining methods from history, astronomy, physics and biology to draw together the big story arcs of how the universe was created, why planets formed and how life developed, this creates a unique perspective from which to understand the place of mankind in the universe. Excited by the alternative ‘framework for all knowledge’ that is offered by this approach, Bill Gates is funding the Big History Project, which aims to bring the subject to a wider audience around the world.The Little Book of Big History breaks down the main themes of Big History into highly informative and accessible parts for all readers to enjoy. By giving a truly complete timeline of world events, this book shines a whole different light on history as we learned it and makes us think of our history – and our future – in a very different way.