Desmond Dingle's Complete History of the Whole Wor (Nick Hern Books)

Desmond Olivier Dingle gives us the benefit of his huge and devastating knowledge by charting the history of the world in 58 chapters and three prefaces. Each chapter is replete with erudition: "The Chinese Empire is one of the oldest Empires in the world and existed until recently without anyone knowing about it. Apart from the Chinese, obviously." The man behind Dingle, Patrick Barlow, also penned the National Theatre of Brent’s Love Upon the Throne and The Messiah.