# The Crackpot Compendium: Edward Brooke-Hitching

> The Crackpot Compendium is a 384-page hardback gift book: an A-Z of history's eccentric thinkers, from crackpot inventors to false prophets, for lovers of oddities.

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- Price: £16.95
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- URL: https://nextdaygifts.co.uk/products/the-crackpot-compendium
- Details checked against the supplier's specification: 2026-10-08

## About this gift

Humour fans and history buffs: this crackpot compendium of eccentric thinkers is the gift for them. Crackpot inventors, false prophets, quacks, pseudo-scientists, con-artists and impostors share its pages from A to Z. It makes a witty present for anyone who can't resist a bizarre tale from history.

Edward Brooke-Hitching packs the book with strange episodes: dinosaur espionage, earthquake-predicting plants, cat pianos and canine translation devices. Its stories run from how to build a pigeon death-ray to how to interrogate a houseplant. It is a hardback of 384 pages, measuring 223 x 143 x 30 mm.

Dip into 384 pages of odd history, one A-Z entry at a time. This is a birthday or Christmas present for the odd-fact fan. Choose The Crackpot Compendium and give them a book full of oddities to read.

## Key facts

- Hardback, 384 pages
- 223 x 143 x 30 mm
- By Edward Brooke-Hitching
- Published 8 October 2026
- Subjects: humour, gift books

## What's in the box

- 1 hardback book, 384 pages

## Details

| | |
|---|---|
| Size | 223 x 143 x 30 mm |
| Contents | Hardback, 384 pages |

## Questions

### What's inside The Crackpot Compendium?

An A-Z of history's eccentric thinkers, from crackpot inventors and false prophets to quacks, pseudo-scientists and con-artists.

### How big is the book?

It measures 223 x 143 x 30 mm and has 384 pages.

### Who wrote The Crackpot Compendium?

Edward Brooke-Hitching wrote it, and Simon & Schuster Ltd published it on 8 October 2026.