Review of "Firefly's World of Facts: 2008 Edition" by Russell Ash

My dad would have loved this book. It's a compendium of information from dozens of disciplines of science, culture, and the humanities. It's colorful illustrations and humorous anecdotes make it seem like a book of trivia - the sorts of things you could use to win bar bets. But there's some seriously useful facts in this intriguing catalog of information, too. You'll find details about the world's religions from eras long past to today. Historical epochs are outlined. There's a brief description of all of the countries in the world here. Sports, theater, film, and the arts are discussed. Lots of science too, of course, but accessible to both young and old.

As I said, my dad would have loved this book. He was an avid reader and went to the local library at least once a week, usually with my sister or me in tow. In the mid-1950's he bought a set of the iconic Funk and Wagnalls' encyclopedia for the family and read all 30 volumes from cover to cover. He kept up a subscription to their annual yearbook for more than 10 years when they stopped publishing them. He loved learning about all sorts of things and would have eaten this book up with a spoon.