Listellany

Delightfully nerdy and geeky, perfect water cooler fodder that's guaranteed to generate discussion. This quirky and unusual book of top 10's covers politics, language, history, pop culture and more - with a distinctive British slant.

This is NOT a fact-based compendium. It's purely opinion - the opinions of John Rentoul, his readers—and, yes, Twitter. Every week in the Independent on Sunday, John Rentoul publishes a top 10 based on suggestions from the great British public, covering a wide range of pressing issues, such as which are the books that people buy but never read?* Now collected together for the first time, and featuring previously unpublished lists, this is a book of open arguments that will ask readers to continue the discussion and contribute to the great debate online. It addresses essential topics such as: most overrated 1960s bands; meaningless words found on modern menus; great bands with terrible names; films panned as turkeys that are actually quite good; most beautiful British railway journeys; stupid car names; unsung villains; political heckles; words that ought to be used more often; British place names; best prime ministers we never had; visual clichés; political myths; anagrams; misquotations; worst Beatles songs; most interesting politicians. This book is a compendium of the answers to such quintessential pub arguments. But who knows best? You, John, or Twitter? Pick up this book and join the debate. *Top answers: Long Walk to Freedom; A Brief History of Time; Ulysses; Life of Pi; Longitude; Spycatcher; Gravity's Rainbow; My Life by Bill Clinton; Living History by Hillary Clinton; anything by Jamie Oliver.