<p><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS<br> <br> '</b><b>Top Bins! A personal best, a lap record and a hole in one for when rain has stopped play.' ALAN DAVIES<br></b><b>'The trivia book of the season . . . magnificent.' <i>SPECTATOR</i><br> <br></b><b>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> <br> <i>Everything to Play For</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 skilful. 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> **<br> <br> Published in paperback as <i>A Load of Old Balls</i>.<br> <br> **<br> <br> For more from the team behind QI's hit TV show, check out the QI FACTS series of books, @qikipedia, their weekly podcast at nosuchthingasafish.com or visit qi.com.</p>