Last week our wonderful I Never Knew That… series sold its half millionth copy. Championed by Sarah Kennedy on her BBC Radio 2 show, the series began in April 2005 with the publication of I Never Knew That About England. It has expanded to eight titles with companion books on Scotland, Wales, Ireland and London, as well as the English, Irish and Scottish and, most recently, I Never Knew That About Britain: The Quiz Book.

Researched and compiled by Christopher Winn, each book is beautifully illustrated with line drawings by his wife, Mai Osawa. A professional quiz-setter, the idea for the I Never Knew That… series emerged when Christopher was travelling around the country looking at country house venues to host a play he was working on, Ancestral Voices. Christopher’s first car was a Morris Minor which frequently overheated, and any journey had to be on country roads so that he could stop from time to time to let the car cool down, giving him plenty of opportunity to investigate the fascinating stories of towns and villages along the way. For instance, I bet You Never Knew That…

• British stamps are the only ones in the world not to include the country of origin
• The traffic cone was first produced in Edinburgh
• Llanwrytd Wells, home to the World Bog Snorkelling Championships, is also the smallest town in Britain, with a population of just 700
• Lincoln Cathedral was the first building in the world to be constructed taller than the Great Pyramid

To celebrate this landmark sale, we have 5 copies of I Never Knew That About England and I Never Knew That About Britain: The Quiz Book to give away. Just answer this question, taken from one of Christopher’s books, in the comments:

- Apart from the City of London, what is the smallest city in England?

Caroline - Deputy Publicity Director