The Second World War Began in New Zealand

and 200 Other Dubious Facts

by Robert Anwood, with contributions by Richard Wolfe

It’s a fun collection of wildly inaccurate claims, half-baked theories and fascinating tidbits which may or may not contain a kernel of truth. The ideal book for the bloke down the pub, the quiz fanatic or the trivia buff, it’s about “facts” both true and apocryphal, with reliable information presented on their origins and accuracy. Grouped into categories such as Nature, Sports and Geography, the material covers life’s most important questions, including:

• Do butterflies taste with their feet?
• Is rice a fruit?
• Is it true that you can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times?
• Did Coca-Cola once contain cocaine?
• Are there more guns than voters in Texas?
• Did Marilyn Monroe have six toes on each foot?
• Were the first shots of the Second World War really fired in Wellington?

Richard Wolfe is the author of Auckland: A Pictorial History, Kiwiana and Hell-hole of the Pacific, among other novels, children’s books and works of social history.

Here’s a December 2006 review of The Second World War Began in New Zealand from The Press. Not the greatest review, though not the worst, either!