Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Guinness World Records, Pan Macmillan, $44.99.
Not only is this an outstanding compendium of official world records, but it also gives you the opportunity to be featured in the next edition!
Do you have a thirst for knowledge? Then the Guinness World Records 2021 provides the answers compiled in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Are you inquisitive about the world’s steepest street (road), the fastest time to cross all 10 Australian deserts on motorbike? Have you ever wondered why someone would want to travel over 120km/h on a motorcycle while performing a headstand or how exactly do you train a rat to jump through a hoop eight times?
In addition, there’s something different on this year’s cover. To celebrate Discover Your World theme, award-winning illustrator Rod Hunt has created a superlative metropolis and crams it with as many as record-breakers as possible.
Rod’s busy, retro-style cartoons are rich in colour and crammed with about 200 record holder details. Also listed are 20 more history-making events featured on the front and back of the book including the tallest man ever, youngest female with a full beard, tallest full Mohican/Mohawk, loudest burp, fastest circumnavigation of Australia by sail boat, first person to visit earth’s highest and lowest points, shortest man and woman and longest hair.
What’s more, you can even access the interactive, clickable version of the cover that lists everyone featured!
The 67th edition of the world’s best-selling annual book is a fully updated compilation of the world’s most extraordinary, astonishing, surprising and inspiring achievements.
As Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief at Guinness World Records, points out:
Midway through writing this book, “the world was turned upside down by COVID-19, but it’s not stopped people from breaking records. So, you can expect the usual mix of awesome achievements, incredible human bodies and the latest from the worlds of science, sport, gaming, music and movies. We’re able to take readers on a record-breaking journey of discovery from their local neighbourhoods to the far reaches of the solar system, all from the safety of their armchairs”.
Join this thirst-quenching voyage for general knowledge, and/or trivia, through the vast record-breaking panorama in these 12 fact-packed chapters:
- Solar System
- Natural World
- Humans
- Animals
- Against the Clock
- Recordmania
- Culture & Society
- Adventurers
- Technology
- Gaming
- Pop culture
- Sports
Don’t just be a ‘tourist’ through this vividly illustrated, 256-page hardback, which has been a household name since August 1955. Try some of their specially created try-at-home challenges that could see you listed in the world-famous book of records next year. If you want to be one of those lucky few, check out the Against the Clock chapter.
