{"product_id":"a-load-of-old-balls-the-qi-history-of-sport","title":"A Load of Old Balls by James Harkin (Paperback)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe most improbable, fascinating and endlessly entertaining sporting facts and stories, from prehistory to the present day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDid you know that Henry VIII owned the first pair of football boots? Or that David Attenborough is responsible for yellow tennis balls?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent.\" SPECTATOR\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e** Published in hardback as Everything to Play For.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Somiibooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53930894917975,"sku":"9780571372546","price":8.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0799\/4569\/5575\/files\/9780571372546.jpg?v=1783085143","url":"https:\/\/somiibooks.com\/products\/a-load-of-old-balls-the-qi-history-of-sport","provider":"Somiibooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}