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Source ISBN: 9780007232741

Ebook Edition © DECEMBER 2013 ISBN: 9780007444403

Version: 2017-08-18

To all of those people who said ‘You have to include …’ until we had to avoid telling anyone else about the book for fear of the extra chapters. Particular thanks to Bernard Cornwell, whose advice helped us through a difficult time and Paul D’Urso, a good father and a good friend.

‘Don’t worry about genius and don’t worry about not being clever. Trust rather to hard work, perseverance, and determination. The best motto for a long march is “Don’t grumble. Plug on. ”

‘You hold your future in your own hands. Never waver in this belief. Don’t swagger. The boy who swaggers – like the man who swaggers – has little else that he can do. He is a cheap-Jack crying his own paltry wares. It is the empty tin that rattles most. Be honest. Be loyal. Be kind. Remember that the hardest thing to acquire is the faculty of being unselfish. As a quality it is one of the finest attributes of manliness.

‘Love the sea, the ringing beach and the open downs.

‘Keep clean, body and mind.’

– Sir Frederick Treves, Bart, KCVO, CB, Sergeant in Ordinary to HM the King, Surgeon in Ordinary to HRH Prince of Wales, written at 6 Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square, London, on 2 September 1903, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Boy’s Own Paper

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

I Didn’t Have this Book When I Was a Boy

Essential Kit

The Greatest Paper Plane in the World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know

Questions About the World – Part One:

Why is A Summer Day Longer Than A Winter Day?

Why is it Hotter at The Equator?

What is A Vacuum?