John Mitchinson

Karl Marx once downed a pint in all 18 pubs between Oxford Street and the Hampstead Road; as an infant, Oliver Cromwell was abducted by a monkey; Catherine de Medici invented the fork, and Genghis Khan pioneered zero-tolerance policing. Such is the fibre of this collection - from the producers of the BBC2 show - of 68 breezy, witty mini-biographies of great, good and simply odd lives, from Epicurus to Tallulah Bankhead. It's a much wordier, longer book than previous QI spin-offs, though the irreverent, lively tone should inspire the recipient to ask for full-length lives of some of the fascinating subjects covered (Faber £16.99).

QI gets arrested by the police

A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind QI, the BBC quiz show. This week: QI gets arrested.

QI Book of the Dead - exclusive extracts

QI author John Mitchinson introduces exclusive extracts from a new book from the brains behind the TV show - 'dead good' according to Stephen Fry.

Quaintly instructive: the QI literary quiz

Just what were the 39 steps? Whose bonkbuster allegedly made the earth move? And which celebrity author had a job that paid a pitcher of wine a day? Perk up your grey matter with an exclusive QI literary quiz.

A Blissful, Timeless Exploration Of Human 'Ignorance'

The 18th century poet Thomas Gray is responsible for the often quoted phrase, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." President Thomas Jefferson embellished that quotation with one of his own when he said, "If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?" - a line that British comedy writers John Lloyd and John Mitchinson co-opted for the title of their new anthology of quotations.

Lloyd and Mitchinson talk with Liane Hansen about their third book together, titled If Ignorance Is Bliss ... Why Aren't There More Happy People?. It follows The Book of General Ignorance and The Book of Animal Ignorance.

The Final Word: For some, even 15 minutes would be too

An article about the release of the third QI book, Advanced Banter, being published in the United States. The American version is entitled If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?

Everything you think you know is wrong

A book review of The Book of General Ignorance. "Imagine Jeopardy with Stephen Colbert as host, with Steve Martin and Ellen DeGeneres as guests, working off a game board loaded with unanswerable questions."