{"title":"Books by Jonn Elledge","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781472283405","title":"Conspiracy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Uproarious . . . [Phillips and Elledge] pair the abundant good humour of this book with a warning about the corrosive effects of conspiracy theories' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the Satanic Panic to the anti-vaxx movement, the moon landing to Pizzagate, it's always been human nature to believe we're being lied to by the powers that be (and sometimes, to be fair, we absolutely are).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut while it can be fun to indulge in a bit of Deep State banter on the group chat, recent times have shown us that some of these theories have taken on a life of their own - and in our dogged quest for the truth, it appears we might actually be doing it some damage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eConspiracy\u003c\/i\u003e, Tom Phillips and Jonn Elledge take us on a fascinating, insightful and often hilarious journey through conspiracy theories old and new, to try and answer a vital question for our times: how can we learn to log off the QAnon message boards, and start trusting hard evidence again?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for the \u003ci\u003eBrief History\u003c\/i\u003e series:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Witty, entertaining and slightly distressing... You should probably read it' Sarah Knight, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Brilliant. Utterly, utterly brilliant' Jeremy Clarkson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Very funny' Mark Watson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Both readable and entertaining' \u003ci\u003eTelegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43173411225778,"sku":"9781472283405","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472283405.jpg?v=1786020684"},{"product_id":"9781035437344","title":"The Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything","description":"Brought to you from the inquisitive mind of Jonn Elledge, the number-one bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eA History of the World in 47 Borders\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Compendium of (Not Quite) Everything \u003c\/i\u003eis a treasure trove of random knowledge. Covering everything from the furthest known galaxies to the murky origins of oyster ice cream, inside you will find a discussion of how one might determine the most average-sized country in the world; details of humanity's most ridiculous wars; and, at last, the answer to who would win in a fight between Harry Potter and Spider-Man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bizarre, brilliant and filled with the unexpected, \u003ci\u003eThe Compendium \u003c\/i\u003ecovers the breadth and depth of human experience, weaving its way through words and numbers, science and the arts, the spiritual and the secular. It's a feast of facts for a hungry mind.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Includes entries on the cosmos, the human planet (and the lines we draw on it), questions of measurement, history and politics, the natural world, leisure and many 'oddities' that don't fit elsewhere...\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296219738485,"sku":"9781035437344","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781035437344_6ed472ba-fb62-4a73-96c0-da8671f7bcaa.jpg?v=1786017064"},{"product_id":"9781472298546","title":"A History of the World in 47 Borders","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fascinating and surprising history of the world told through the lines people have drawn on maps, described by Richard Osman as 'an absolutely incredible present for anyone who's interested in the world at all, which is sort of all of us' (\u003ci\u003eThe Rest Is Entertainment\u003c\/i\u003e podcast)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Fascinating' \u003cb\u003eTOM HOLLAND \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A delight from start to finish' \u003cb\u003eMIRANDA SAWYER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A novel and fascinating perspective on world history'\u003cb\u003e BILL BRYSON\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'By turns surprising, funny, bleak, ridiculous, or all four of those at once' \u003cb\u003eGIDEON DEFOE\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I love this book; I love Jonn Elledge; I love the way he looks at the world' \u003cb\u003eMARINA HYDE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeople have been drawing lines on maps for as long as there have been maps to draw on. Sometimes rooted in physical geography, sometimes entirely arbitrary, these lines might often have looked very different if a war or treaty or the decisions of a handful of tired Europeans had gone a different way. By telling the stories of these borders, we can learn a lot about how political identities are shaped, why the world looks the way it does - and about the scale of human folly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to the reason why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller April 2025\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMore praise for 47 BORDERS:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'You'll never look at a map the same way again'\u003cb\u003e STEPHEN BUSH \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'[A] clever, confounding history' \u003cb\u003ePATRICK MAGUIRE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A witty grand tour'\u003cb\u003e DORIAN LYNSKEY \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Warm, funny and sharply political' \u003cb\u003ePHIL TINLINE\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56301104234869,"sku":"9781472298546","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472298546_1c801ee2-250d-4d8b-8da5-334d460e6a6d.jpg?v=1786020932"},{"product_id":"world-as-we-built-it","title":"The World as We Built It","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor over 10,000 years, the human race has been busy altering our environment and embracing 'progress', evolving seamlessly from hunter gatherers to the modern urban sophisticates we see ourselves as today. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But what are the ideas and inventions that enabled humanity to become, by the early 21st century, a majority urban species for the first time? How did the essential infrastructure of modern life - the innovations that we barely even notice, but without which our world would fall apart - happen?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e With his characteristic wit and boundless curiosity, Jonn Elledge invites us to join him on a fascinating and often surprising tour of the ideas and technologies that made modernity possible. From elevators to electric lighting, street numbering to sewers, he guides us through the history of civilisation itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57502113562997,"sku":"9781035432769","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781035432769_597db390-e285-4aa5-b1ca-83072c29108d.jpg?v=1786780930"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-jonn-elledge.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}