David Wallechinsky – författare

Today more than ever, international headlines are dominated by dispatches from the many dictatorships that still dot the globe. Although Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been deposed, North Korea''s Kim Jong-il continues to attract attention on the world stage; at the same time, other dictatorships, led by royal families, military juntas, and single political parties, persist in repressing and brutalizing their citizens without ever attracting anything like Saddam''s or Kim Jong-il''s level of international attention.

In this fascinating, eye-opening read, New York Times bestselling author David Wallechinsky offers in-depth portraits of each of the twenty worst dictators -- and the governments they head -- currently in power: exposing their crimes, and revealing their strange personalities and mysterious backgrounds. Tyrants also reveals the extent that foreign corporations and governments support these tyrants despite their policies.

Timely and provocative, crafted with the popular touch that has made Wallechinsky a bestselling author, Tyrants will awaken you to the criminal regimes of the present -- and pose challenging questions about America''s role in curbing (or promoting) their power in the future.

The Tyrant Hall of Shame includes:

Kim Jong-il/North KoreaHu Jintao/ChinaSeyed Ali Khamenei/IranKing Abdullah/Saudi Arabia Muammar al-Qaddafi/LibyaOmar al-Bashir/SudanIslam Karimov/UzbekistanSaparmurat Niyazov/Turkmenistan Fidel Castro/Cuba

A new edition of the classic bestseller from the original authors, with additional material specifically prepared for Canadian readers by long-time This Morning CBC producer, Ira Basen, and Jane Farrow, the author of Wanted Words.In 1977, a publishing sensation was born. The Book of Lists, the first and best compendium of facts weirder than fiction, was published. Filled with intriguing information and must-talk-about trivia it has spawned many imitators — but none as addictive or successful.For nearly three decades since, the editors have been researching curious facts, unusual statistics and the incredible stories behind them. Now the most entertaining and informative of these have been brought together in a long-awaited, thoroughly up-to-date new edition that is also the first Canadian edition. Ira Basen and Jane Farrow have augmented the existing lists with fascinating homegrown material, and compiled lists specifically of relevance to Canadian readers.So if you’ve always wanted to find out how porcupines really mate, how comedy can kill and — that most essential piece of knowledge — how long the longest recorded nose was, this is the book for you. With contributions from a variety of celebrities and experts including Margaret Atwood, Mike Myers, Michael Ondaatje, Dave Eggers, Phillip Pullman and Charlotte Gray, this anthology has something for everyone — and more than you ever suspected you wanted to know.A list of lists from The Book of Lists:10 Notable Film Scenes Left on the Cutting Room Floor10 Afflictions and Their Patron Saints14 Nations with More Sheep Than People5 Trips to the Canadian Wilderness That Ended in Disaster10 Really Bad Canadian Sports Teams14 Last Words of Famous CanadiansKurt Browning’s 9 Turning Points in Figure Skating History7 Trial Verdicts That Caused Riots12 Museums of Limited Appeal10 Unusual Canadian Place Names That Start with a “B”7 Well-Known Sayings Attributed to the Wrong Person10 Celebrated People Who Read Their Own ObituariesSloan''s Jay Ferguson’s 10 Perfect Pop Songs13 Possible Sites for the Garden of Eden9 Canadian Sports Stars Who Became PoliticiansFirst Sexual Encounters of 13 Prominent CanadiansFrom the Paperback edition.

Accurately details the history of laughing gas through to modern times (including historical ramblings & jest), and delves into the medical side of things -- in a light-hearted manner. Finally, while it never promotes nor condones the use of this fascinating substance and clearly highlights the serious dangers of its consumption, Laughing Gas suggests scientifically based means of ameliorating -- preventing -- the known negative possible effects of its consumption.

From the multi-million selling author of The Book of Lists and The Complete Book of the Olympics comes an entirely new take on the Games. Wallechinsky has a uniquely vast knowledge of the Olympics and an unrivalled head forarcane – now the two are combined in this collection of 150 unexpected Olympic lists, including:• The eight slowest Olympic competitors• The twelve strangest sports ever contested• The six most spectacular collisions and falls• The top ten shaven-headed OlympiansPublished for the 2012 Games, The Book of Olympic Lists is a quirky compendium of the unusual, the unknown and the downright bizzare. More than simply a book of lists, Wallechinsky elaborates and expands on the reason for an athlete or incident’ s inclusion, to create a winning – and highly addictive – alternative history of the Olympics.

The first and best compendium of facts weirder than fiction, of intriguing information and must-talk-about trivia has spawned many imitators - but none as addictive or successful.For nearly three decades the editors researched curious facts, unusual statistics and the incredible stories behind them. The most entertaining and informative of these have been brought together in this edition.