The Dangerous Book for Boys

The Dangerous Book for Boys
Conn Iggulden

Hal Iggulden

If ever there were a book to make you switch off your television set, The Dangerous Book for Boys is it.How many other books will help you thrash someone at conkers, race your own go-cart, and identify the best quotations from Shakespeare? The Dangerous Book for Boys gives you facts and figures at your fingertips – swot up on the solar system, learn about famous battles and read inspiring stories of incredible courage and bravery. Teach your old dog new tricks. Make a pinhole camera. Understand the laws of cricket. There's a whole world out there: with this book, anyone can get out and explore it.The Dangerous Book for Boys is written with the verve and passion that readers of Conn Iggulden's number one bestselling novels have come to expect. This book, his first non-fiction work, has been written with his brother as a celebration of the long summers of their youth and as a compendium of information so vital to men of all ages.Chapters in The Dangerous Book for Boys include: The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, Conkers, Laws of Football, Dinosaurs, Fishing, Juggling, Timers and Tripwires, Kings and Queens, Famous Battles, Spies, Making Crystals, Insects and Spiders, Astronomy, Girls, The Golden Age of Piracy, Secret Inks, Patron Saints of Britain, Skimming Stones, Dog Tricks, Making a Periscope, Coin Tricks, Marbles, Artillery, The Origin of Words and The Solar System.

Conn Iggulden & Hal Iggulden

The Dangerous Book for Boys

Copyright (#ulink_d2ced11b-2fb8-5c1c-bfa3-41a6c4c93a0f)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2006

Copyright © Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden 2006

Cover Design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2008

Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780007232741

Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2013 ISBN: 9780007444403

Version: 2017-08-18

To all of those people who said ‘You have to include …’ until we had to avoid telling anyone else about the book for fear of the extra chapters. Particular thanks to Bernard Cornwell, whose advice helped us through a difficult time and Paul D’Urso, a good father and a good friend.

‘Don’t worry about genius and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is “Don’t grumble. Plug on. ”

‘You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers – like the man who swaggers – has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.

‘Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs.

‘Keep clean, body and mind.’

– Sir Frederick Treves, Bart, KCVO, CB, Sergeant in Ordinary to HM the King, Surgeon in Ordinary to HRH Prince of Wales, written at 6 Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square, London, on 2 September 1903, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Boy’s Own Paper

Contents

Title Page (#u486b3cd5-a574-5ba9-a45e-09e90c38c1fd)

Copyright (#uf81b8722-97b3-52fe-b48d-c34b75d355f6)

Dedication (#ue2819b4f-8c3d-5e7b-93f3-ab49ab484a83)

Epigraph (#u49c5f503-455e-579a-aef6-42255eb16578)

I Didn’t Have this Book When I Was a Boy (#ue61c71cd-fc52-5192-9b5c-fba5ab5a7ced)

Essential Kit (#u375a318a-1217-55c8-a224-140bab45cfac)

The Greatest Paper Plane in the World (#u46676f96-c279-59da-94fe-9278103088f6)

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (#u3cf59577-971d-5606-8ac4-31cc9dae71df)

The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know (#u6fb4d265-8e40-5778-a010-318bb8807336)

Questions About the World – Part One: (#u2f1d5f61-bea5-558a-b18f-26863cc6e4dc)

Why is A Summer Day Longer Than A Winter Day? (#ulink_c1a21db9-9233-5fbb-b6aa-965548fc54af)

Why is it Hotter at The Equator? (#ulink_b98cc355-6d0d-5017-bd63-d5c039cc942f)

What is A Vacuum? (#ulink_1f10b69f-e103-569e-afd7-21368e70658f)

What is Latitude and Longitude? (#ulink_55fdff91-0f87-53a8-ae0b-c71712928a93)

How do You Tell The Age of A Tree? (#ulink_d7734914-0633-5770-859a-e7a2c6725cca)

Making a Battery (#u9fc772ad-df64-58e7-8943-e3a52fd688f7)

Conkers (#u2255d110-06a3-5011-a9bc-6f9c7a93d48e)

Catapults (#u077a4cb0-2822-5686-b2b1-a6d057fa8667)

Fossils (#u8f60d736-a72d-53de-8519-2d8fd947336c)

Building a Treehouse (#u0111aa09-9837-5e69-9c22-7e0e35839e8f)

The Laws of Football (#u661a6004-b422-5ce2-b43a-18bf6c700091)

Dinosaurs (#ua791ee64-2897-5f3e-8f70-ff1d55ac5bf8)

Making a Bow and Arrow (#u2d61af71-27c0-5a56-a73d-e2d2733e1f28)

Understanding Grammar – Part One (#u932d5f9b-7b5f-5692-939d-edfca3303af8)

Table Football (#u4b0a2038-714b-55be-8af3-99bfb750c6df)