Книга - 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)

Fishing (#ue2fc80ba-f3dd-57f5-89c6-6b42848f40b0)

Timers and Tripwires (#uec8a97ef-8af3-50fd-9aa0-3d068ede2467)

Kings and Queens of England and Scotland (#ue0450c27-a364-5a8e-88e4-a15339191722)

Famous Battles – Part One: (#u89b9600f-a53a-5993-acfa-3a331680554d)

Thermopylae

Cannae

Caesar’s Invasions of Britain

Hastings

Crécy

The Laws of Rugby Union and Rugby League (#ub443fae4-2d5d-56ab-a359-05279e7e5867)

Spies – Codes and Ciphers (#uab5bcb33-7052-5fdf-856d-db6ff74730b4)

Making Crystals (#uee18af8d-e58d-54d2-8cf4-a331e0d3e543)

Extraordinary Stories – Part One: Scott of the Antarctic (#u348fe27b-5a4a-54b4-bf33-577b3d1f7b54)

Making a Go-Cart (#u60145c00-fe46-5938-a095-5fc056215944)

Insects and Spiders (#uafeae865-6ad8-579d-a182-8083a80df27f)

Juggling (#ub8d1db65-aec2-5674-9097-8fa99bf2e837)

Questions about the World – Part Two: (#u78ffb5d6-96b9-5d1d-b3e5-163c2e28a846)

How do We Measure The Earth’s Circumference? (#ulink_e8eaebee-1aa0-58f8-999d-96e8f29881a2)

Why Does A Day Have Twenty-Four Hours? (#ulink_25a3d807-eb98-584a-a955-c88a06d9081d)

How Far Away Are The Stars? (#ulink_aabbda18-65fc-5ff5-931f-d6c1ae3475d6)

Why is The Sky Blue? (#ulink_89cb54f0-4c1c-5da4-b9ea-2285e07bc7ac)

Why Can’t We See The Other Side of The Moon? (#ulink_4c8d68c2-e201-5907-881b-a8db2026c6a4)

What Causes The Tides? (#ulink_c870ad92-b35d-5c64-945c-585af60a645d)

Astronomy (#ude48c9b7-c0c7-5b8a-82f4-54ed22d48f96)

Making a Paper Hat, Boat and Waterbomb (#uf9c873d8-bf30-58f5-8ce9-c63ff530fbf2)

The Laws of Cricket (#u687410d0-c6d1-53c0-8c51-f6633cb80902)

Understanding Grammar – Part Two (#ud7228b32-5b98-506e-98d9-ef1156e58f5c)

Girls (#uda520f4e-45d8-582c-ba0b-7479a512ff0e)

Marbling Paper (#u138fb71a-7b06-5623-aad5-39cb8520ae5e)

Cloud Formations (#u45bb8226-2b48-5c47-8fb4-10ce091c24c5)

Famous Battles – Part Two: (#u6fc50485-3408-5747-aee9-bf7d79e9572b)

Waterloo,

Balaclava,

Rorke’s Drift,

the Somme

Making Cloth Fireproof (#ub0843129-1d3f-5051-8dcb-2e68992f5f61)

First Aid (#u42367b48-d9f8-510a-bc53-53dd76abe20d)

The Commonwealth (#ua63ed27b-b7d9-519d-b55c-59f233422ad9)

Maps of Changing Britain – Roman Britain to the Norman Conquest (#u27906d53-34c0-5bea-a753-17136164c3bb)

Extraordinary Stories – Part Two: Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (#uef0d93f1-638f-54cd-ae55-d23053ef0b34)

Building a Workbench (#uab4cff23-6ea7-5803-a5f5-ba923656c881)

The Steady-Hand Tin (#u13ff764a-cfd0-51f9-85d7-8b1222a9dd38)

Five Pen and Paper Games (#u04002b2f-8915-5eae-a0db-1d319618bcdc)

The Golden Age of Piracy (#u51120c69-249e-5ca8-ab42-392e769f78bf)

A Simple Electromagnet (#ucb86a0ec-4ee1-545f-846c-f4ae48653209)

Secret Inks (#u1cce8fe0-c7f9-53b1-9843-4ff818d939e9)

Sampling Shakespeare (#u410f6a62-52f8-5d0f-8654-4edf4ff50497)

Extraordinary Stories – Part Three: Touching the Void (#ud23ee4f3-26ff-5227-9f7a-22f86e825f6f)

Grinding an Italic Nib (#ufd026075-883c-548e-95fa-285caa63bbb0)

Navigation (#uf59e82bc-26de-5c6f-a19a-db61646eddb2)

Naval Flag Codes (#u934c6777-4532-5932-94e7-6582e9dc2e88)

The Patron Saints of Britain (#ue5ba431f-9017-5b44-a3d5-d52fe045afbf)

The Moon (#u1a6fa637-3658-5ea7-89d7-abab14881fd8)

Skimming Stones (#ue88916c1-f162-5fda-a45b-a90aee0dbae4)

Pinhole Projector (#u4ba05dcf-245d-5cc4-8fcc-dd43865884f3)

Charting the Universe (#u6d8a1e01-0e62-5a52-853b-e47a3f8d1e00)

Dog Tricks (#u2b4bb22f-94cc-5eef-817d-cdf3de24043c)

Wrapping a Parcel in Brown Paper and String (#u62640f87-d780-522a-a8a9-5ec6529e7ebf)

Star Maps: What You See When You Look Up … (#u1bfa6fb5-9760-557a-bc96-f6af47bc3560)

Making a Periscope (#u9c023458-12fd-5047-81c5-46f1a8e80e63)

Five Poems Every Boy Should Know (#u1e3cf2b7-746a-52e4-998a-93b22282fe3f)

Coin Tricks (#u8fa968fc-ccbd-55d5-a481-82e2752f6dcb)

Light (#u844af024-581b-59d5-b3d7-40d9ae7262a4)

Latin Phrases Every Boy Should Know (#u9caf2d4c-e9ad-5a08-9068-8c2798fb3c95)

How to Play Poker (#u89974c87-da6c-5f78-957e-e2e1e335dd8c)

Extraordinary Stories – Part Four: Douglas Bader (#uaeaab482-922a-53c4-a085-54d69f5b3a76)

Marbles (#u85b3058d-7a47-5607-9cf5-38eff0779faf)

A Brief History of Artillery (#u4fd72390-31c5-5f0c-9db2-64de66689925)

The Origin of Words (#u1be1f54c-22ea-5a24-a131-e7edc2174857)

The Solar System: A Quick Reference Guide (#uf6582a42-b41b-56f3-ad8d-869d2273a348)

The Ten Commandments (#uec312ded-2c4f-582f-bb81-60526350d647)

Common British Trees (#u1e51bc0b-a63f-5d2c-8a67-e1c47c20da8e)

Extraordinary Stories – Part Five: Robert the Bruce (#uceffe9ac-82f2-5363-a42d-e99f4a1493d8)

Hunting and Cooking a Rabbit (#ud2e007cb-e0ba-54de-ba7f-0c9b32efa5db)

The Game of Chess (#uf36868c7-5107-560c-97e1-ee6904d8fcca)

Tanning a Skin (#u80a788d4-0b09-5abd-bb7e-f4ec5c5197f2)

The British Empire (1497–1997) (#u8791ac95-42d6-517e-a2c1-2d9831adb51a)

Growing Sunflowers (#u3b6170bd-29f1-5679-8847-963efdda2b9e)

Questions about the World – Part Three: (#ucb787a35-ebbd-5c2b-a7d0-0fcd9bbfb549)

How do Ships Sail Against The Wind? (#ulink_1dc0a955-2c93-5e4b-857e-2be01f2aaa60)

Where Does Cork Come From? (#ulink_cd614fba-69c9-50a3-9820-0a0e90ac2d2f)

What Causes The Wind? (#ulink_f729bf3c-1ace-5832-bdf6-f8fd87c86f5c)

What is Chalk? (#ulink_3a7e832b-b4f9-5eba-ab56-15daaecf570f)

Role-Playing Games (#u71a449b7-efdc-509b-aee0-20744e684e36)

Understanding Grammar – Part Three (#u3614be33-e0b5-55c8-96f0-d1d849e15c04)

Seven Modern Wonders of the World (#uf91c06eb-d4d9-51ce-937d-0d30544dfdfe)

Books Every Boy Should Read (#uda6779de-5284-5b92-aa32-5512a733c434)

Imperial/Metric Conversion Table (#ub612fc85-a751-57de-b182-b578ecf0e6d4)

Illustration Credits (#u9cdcfaf3-0ba2-5ea2-a2dc-ee2a163e1e7d)

Also by the Author (#ubfd20c08-efcb-5deb-8439-a2b4351d983c)

About the Publisher (#u949780b7-c0d9-50bd-bc37-8e276fa6bab7)




I Didn’t Have This When I Was A Boy (#ulink_72ba8972-6c47-59db-9120-b60c94ffaec6)







In this age of video games and mobile phones, there must still be a place for knots, treehouses and stories of incredible courage. The one thing that we always say about childhood is that we seemed to have more time back then. This book will help you recapture those Sunday afternoons and long summers – because they’re still long if you know how to look at them.

Boyhood is all about curiosity and men and boys can enjoy stories of Scott of the Antarctic and Joe Simpson in Touching the Void as much as they can raid a shed for the bits to make an electromagnet, or grow a crystal, build a go-cart and learn how to find north in the dark. You’ll find famous battles in these pages, insects and dinosaurs – as well as essential Shakespeare quotes, how to cut flint heads for a bow and arrow and instructions on making the best paper aeroplane in the world.

How do latitude and longitude work? How do you make secret ink, or send the cipher that Julius Caesar used with his generals? You’ll find the answers inside. It was written by two men who would have given away the cat to get this book when they were young. It wasn’t a particularly nice cat. Why did we write it now? Because these things are important still and we wished we knew them better. There are few things as satisfying as tying a decent bowline knot when someone needs a loop, or simply knowing what happened at Waterloo and the Somme. The tales must be told and retold, or the memories slowly die.

The stories of courage can be read as simple adventures – or perhaps as inspiration, examples of extraordinary acts by ordinary people. Since writing them, it’s been a great deal harder to hop about and curse when one of us stubs a toe. If you read Douglas Bader’s chapter, you’ll see why. They’re not just cracking stories, they’re part of a culture, a part we really don’t want to see vanish.

Is it old fashioned? Well that depends. Men and boys today are the same as they always were, and interested in the same things. They may conquer different worlds when they grow up, but they’ll still want these stories for themselves and for their sons. We hope in years to come, that this will be a book to dig out of the attic and give to a couple of kids staring at a pile of wood and wondering what to do with it.

When you’re a man, you realise that everything changes, but when you’re a boy, you know different. The camp you make today will be there forever. You want to learn coin-tricks and how to play poker because you never know when the skills will come in handy. You want to be self-sufficient and find your way by the stars. Perhaps for those who come after us, you want to reach them. Well, why not? Why not?

Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden





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