--- product_id: 4607256 title: "The Book of General Ignorance" price: "AED 89" currency: AED in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.ae/products/4607256-the-book-of-general-ignorance store_origin: AE region: United Arab Emirates --- # The Book of General Ignorance **Price:** AED 89 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Book of General Ignorance - **How much does it cost?** AED 89 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ae](https://www.desertcart.ae/products/4607256-the-book-of-general-ignorance) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A shockingly counterintuitive book of trivia that cuts through the misconceptions that most of us call “facts” to show how wrong we are about . . . well, everything. “Trivia buffs and know-it-alls alike will exult to find so much repeatable wisdom gathered in one place.”— The New York Times Think Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe, baseball was invented in America, Henry VIII had six wives, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain? Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Challenging commonly held assumptions in areas like history, literature, science, nature, and more, The Book of General Ignorance is a witty “gotcha” compendium of verifiably true answers to seemingly easy questions, like: Who was the first American president? Peyton Randolph. How long can a chicken live without its head? About two years. How many legs does a centipede have? Not a hundred. How many toes does a two-toed sloth have? It’s either six or eight. Check out The Book of General Ignorance for fun entries and complete answers to these and many more questions. You’ll be surprised at how much you don’t know! Review: You may be more ignorant than you know . . . but don't worry, so is everyone else. - At last, the American release of what is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating books you could ever hope to delve into! Whereas most trivia books contain "facts" of dubious origin and little consequence, it's clear that the authors of this book have gone through great pains to dig out and verify the most interesting tidbits from the realms of history, nature, science, and culture. Let's go for a few examples (edited heavily for space; the book is far more detailed). Q: How many words do Eskimos have for snow? A: Actually, no more than four. Although it's often said that Eskimos have dozens or even hundreds of words for snow, there are at most only four root-words for it, and that's drawing from all Eskimo languages. (They do, however, have more than thirty words for demonstrative pronouns, where speakers of English only have four.) Q: Who invented the telephone? A: Contrary to what you've been taught, it was not the famous A. Graham Bell! Credit goes to Antonio Meucci, a brilliant but ailing Italian inventor, whose patent fell into the hands of Bell, a young Scottish engineer. Meucci died before his case against Bell could come to fruition. There are hundreds of more questions to the end of fascinating and delighting the reader. However much you think you know, there will be mountains of information in here to surprise you--and that's quite the point. In the words of co-writer John Lloyd, "This book is for the people who know they don't know very much." As the authors hope you will come to understand, one's best hope in life is to recognize that one is generally ignorant, for it is simply impossible to know any but a sliver of the wealth of knowledge contained in and about the world. By admitting this, one is then motivated to ask questions that matter, for everything can be interesting when looked at in the right way . . . it's just that most people fail to look. But it goes further than that. "The Book of General Ignorance" is just one piece of a cultural phenomenon that has its roots in Britain. It was originally written as a textual accompaniment to the hugely-popular television show "QI", which operates under the philosophy that curiosity--for its own sake--is worthwhile. The show is unlike anything broadcast on American screens, featuring panelists who try desperately to claw their way to the answers to questions they are posed (questions not unlike those appearing in the book). While they're rarely correct from the off, it's the mere delight in discovering the truth that ends up being, unfailingly, uproariously funny. The show's a joyful celebration of the fact that questioning the world around us need not be an impenetrably erudite or boring endeavor. [...] In the meantime, pick up this book, and once you've been thoroughly impressed, buy it for your friends as well. It'd make a lovely gift for birthdays and the holiday season, assured to please scholar and dilettante alike. Recommended with cherries on top. Review: Non-Trivial Trivia for the Lover of all Things Factual - For the dedicated informavore, cracking the first page of this book is like ushering a person with a drinking problem into an Oktoberfest celebration. Consisting of over two hundred questions that many people THINK they know the answer to, The Book of General Ignorance proceeds to deflate the readers' pride in their own knowledge with both dispatch and humor. With queries ranging from "What human artifacts can be seen from the moon?" to "What would you use to overpower a crocodile?", the authors cover topics ranging from astrophysics to particle physics, from the sex lives of earwigs to the homicidal habits of hippos, all in clear and humorous prose. It would be tempting to look at this book as simply a larger and more explicit version of picking up a box of Trivial Pursuit cards and going through them one by one. And if you're someone that has actually done this (Sadly....I'm one of those people), you'll love this book. For many readers, delightful as the tidbits provided are, it will leave one with the odd and unfulfilling feeling one gets when one goes to a party, not having had dinner, and all that is available is a vast array of tasty appetizers: one gets stuffed, but keeps vaguely missing the main meal. That said, there is a takeaway message or two that have lasting substance. The first message from author John Lloyd, who quotes from the man who DIDN'T invent the light bulb (Thomas Edison) "We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything." Secondly, Lloyd feels that in addition to drives for food, shelter, and sex, mankind has a fourth drive: curiosity. And we should indulge this drive. Lastly, much that we think we know, we are in error about. The book, in a funky and funny way, is a call to humility, a call to lay aside pomposity, cockiness, and fear, the better to take off whatever lenses we have been gazing at the world through and to take a fresh look at information that is often staring us in the face. Information that just might push back the shoreline of ignorance just a few feet. As narrow as that newly uncovered beachfront might be, it is bound to hold fascinating clues to what is under that ocean of ignorance that we humans so badly want to explore. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #112,965 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #33 in Humor Encyclopedias #97 in Trivia & Fun Facts (Books) #110 in Quizzes (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,827 Reviews | ## Images ![The Book of General Ignorance - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91q7JD5Lt8L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ You may be more ignorant than you know . . . but don't worry, so is everyone else. *by S***K on August 28, 2007* At last, the American release of what is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating books you could ever hope to delve into! Whereas most trivia books contain "facts" of dubious origin and little consequence, it's clear that the authors of this book have gone through great pains to dig out and verify the most interesting tidbits from the realms of history, nature, science, and culture. Let's go for a few examples (edited heavily for space; the book is far more detailed). Q: How many words do Eskimos have for snow? A: Actually, no more than four. Although it's often said that Eskimos have dozens or even hundreds of words for snow, there are at most only four root-words for it, and that's drawing from all Eskimo languages. (They do, however, have more than thirty words for demonstrative pronouns, where speakers of English only have four.) Q: Who invented the telephone? A: Contrary to what you've been taught, it was not the famous A. Graham Bell! Credit goes to Antonio Meucci, a brilliant but ailing Italian inventor, whose patent fell into the hands of Bell, a young Scottish engineer. Meucci died before his case against Bell could come to fruition. There are hundreds of more questions to the end of fascinating and delighting the reader. However much you think you know, there will be mountains of information in here to surprise you--and that's quite the point. In the words of co-writer John Lloyd, "This book is for the people who know they don't know very much." As the authors hope you will come to understand, one's best hope in life is to recognize that one is generally ignorant, for it is simply impossible to know any but a sliver of the wealth of knowledge contained in and about the world. By admitting this, one is then motivated to ask questions that matter, for everything can be interesting when looked at in the right way . . . it's just that most people fail to look. But it goes further than that. "The Book of General Ignorance" is just one piece of a cultural phenomenon that has its roots in Britain. It was originally written as a textual accompaniment to the hugely-popular television show "QI", which operates under the philosophy that curiosity--for its own sake--is worthwhile. The show is unlike anything broadcast on American screens, featuring panelists who try desperately to claw their way to the answers to questions they are posed (questions not unlike those appearing in the book). While they're rarely correct from the off, it's the mere delight in discovering the truth that ends up being, unfailingly, uproariously funny. The show's a joyful celebration of the fact that questioning the world around us need not be an impenetrably erudite or boring endeavor. [...] In the meantime, pick up this book, and once you've been thoroughly impressed, buy it for your friends as well. It'd make a lovely gift for birthdays and the holiday season, assured to please scholar and dilettante alike. Recommended with cherries on top. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Non-Trivial Trivia for the Lover of all Things Factual *by S***K on March 28, 2010* For the dedicated informavore, cracking the first page of this book is like ushering a person with a drinking problem into an Oktoberfest celebration. Consisting of over two hundred questions that many people THINK they know the answer to, The Book of General Ignorance proceeds to deflate the readers' pride in their own knowledge with both dispatch and humor. With queries ranging from "What human artifacts can be seen from the moon?" to "What would you use to overpower a crocodile?", the authors cover topics ranging from astrophysics to particle physics, from the sex lives of earwigs to the homicidal habits of hippos, all in clear and humorous prose. It would be tempting to look at this book as simply a larger and more explicit version of picking up a box of Trivial Pursuit cards and going through them one by one. And if you're someone that has actually done this (Sadly....I'm one of those people), you'll love this book. For many readers, delightful as the tidbits provided are, it will leave one with the odd and unfulfilling feeling one gets when one goes to a party, not having had dinner, and all that is available is a vast array of tasty appetizers: one gets stuffed, but keeps vaguely missing the main meal. That said, there is a takeaway message or two that have lasting substance. The first message from author John Lloyd, who quotes from the man who DIDN'T invent the light bulb (Thomas Edison) "We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything." Secondly, Lloyd feels that in addition to drives for food, shelter, and sex, mankind has a fourth drive: curiosity. And we should indulge this drive. Lastly, much that we think we know, we are in error about. The book, in a funky and funny way, is a call to humility, a call to lay aside pomposity, cockiness, and fear, the better to take off whatever lenses we have been gazing at the world through and to take a fresh look at information that is often staring us in the face. Information that just might push back the shoreline of ignorance just a few feet. As narrow as that newly uncovered beachfront might be, it is bound to hold fascinating clues to what is under that ocean of ignorance that we humans so badly want to explore. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fun *by C***. on September 1, 2026* Everyone loved it. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ae/products/4607256-the-book-of-general-ignorance](https://www.desertcart.ae/products/4607256-the-book-of-general-ignorance) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Arab Emirates* *Store origin: AE* *Last updated: 2026-09-30*