<b>The most improbable, fascinating and endlessly entertaining sporting facts and stories, from prehistory to the present day.<br></b><b><br> Did you know that Henry VIII owned the first pair of football boots? Or that David Attenborough is responsible for yellow tennis balls?</b><br> <i><br> A Load of Old Balls</i> 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 <i>QI</i> and co-hosts of <i>No Such Thing As A Fish</i> - show us sport as we've never seen it before. <br> <br> <b>"The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent." SPECTATOR<br></b><br> <p>** Published in hardback as <i>Everything to Play For</i>.</p> <p><br></p> <br>