Edward Brooke-Hitching

Edward Brooke-Hitching is an English author, and a writer and researcher for the BBC panel show QI, as a member of the team known as the "QI Elves". He is the son of the rare book dealer Franklin Brooke-Hitching[1] and a descendant of the printer and bibliographer William Blades, who wrote the history of book preservation The Enemies of Books.[2]

Edward Brooke-Hitching
BornLondon, England
OccupationAuthor and screenwriter
LanguageEnglish
Notable worksFox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports, The Phantom Atlas, The Golden Atlas, The Sky Atlas, The Madman's Library
Website
www.edwardbrookehitching.com

His Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports described 90 obsolete pastimes and The Spectator's reviewer said "A book like this, the result of enormously diligent library ferreting, doesn't have any pressing reason to exist, but I am glad it does. Its pointlessness is its pleasure."[3] It described sports including fox tossing, octopus wrestling and ski ballet.[4] His The Phantom Atlas describes places which appear on maps but do not exist: the Times reviewer says that it "shows how places that aren’t there can endure, sometimes for centuries, once a map-maker has inked them in".[5] The Sky Atlas was shortlisted for the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in the "Illustrated travel book" category[6] and picked as one of the 50 Christmas books of the year by The Herald.[7]

In 2007 he directed a short documentary about the Edinburgh-based Really Terrible Orchestra.[8]

He appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in October 2019. His hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A land grant for 60 acres of land in Poyais", being a document produced by 1820s fraudster Gregor MacGregor.[9]

Selected publications
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (2015). Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports: The Most Dangerous and Bizarre Sports in History. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1471148989.
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (2016). The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1471159459.
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (2018). The Golden Atlas: The Greatest Explorations, Quests and Discoveries on Maps. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1471166822.
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (2019). The Sky Atlas: The Greatest Maps, Myths and Discoveries of the Universe. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1471178931.
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (1 October 2020). The Madman's Library: The Greatest Curiosities of Literature. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781471166914.
  • Brooke-Hitching, Edward (14 October 2021). The Devil's Atlas: An Explorer's Guide to Heavens, Hells and Afterworlds. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1398503557.

References
  1. "Photography & Illustrated Tra".
  2. "Brooke-Hitching: A collector's collector".
  3. Berkmann, Markus (18 July 2015). "Anyone for eel-pulling?". The Spectator. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  4. Bull, Andy (9 October 2018). "Octopus wrestling shows sports do die – but mainly ones that deserve to". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  5. Whitworth, Damian (19 November 2016). "The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps by Edward Brooke-Hitching". The Times. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  6. Page, Benedict (10 December 2019). "Edward Stanford Travel Writing shortlists unveiled". The Bookseller. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  7. Jamieson, Teddy; Swarbrick, Susan (23 November 2019). "Christmas Books 2019: The 50 reads that make perfect gifts". The Herald. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. "The Really Terrible Orchestra". British Films Directory. British Council. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  9. "Gallery fourteen: Room four". Museum of Curiosity. qi.com. Retrieved 4 January 2020.


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