The Odditorium

David Bramwell and Jo Keeling
Rating: 4 / 5

The world celebrates the genius of Albert Einstein, Shakespeare and Audrey Hepburn. Yet, in this collection of stories, David Bramwell and Jo Keeling highlight the lesser known legends of the world. 

Listing 46 people who were before their time in thought and action, you will be mystified and left laughing at the escapades of these strange and illuminating characters.

From Nelly Bly, the journalist who feigned insanity to enter an insane asylum, to Jack Churchill, the soldier who ‘fought Hitler with bagpipes and a broad sword’—the book chronicles the deviants, tricksters, eccentrics, inventors and explorers who shaped the world around us.

Always quirky, sometimes bizarre, and occasionally disturbing, this book will delight trivia buffs. Best read in short bursts (it’s a little overwhelming turning from the story of a feminist to a sexologist and then a self-imposed deity), The Odditorium is a perfect coffee table book.