Do you know why did Cristiano Ronaldo’s father name him so? Which is the most dangerous country to live in? What is the name of the highest grossing movie ever produced? The answer to all these questions along with many others can be found in the latest edition of the Guinness World Records 2011 where records speak louder than words.

Dedicated to the memory of Michael Jackson and He Pingping, the book has been upgraded with new and sometimes bizarre records. Featuring countless photographs of record holders, it caters to the needs of everyone with a knack for records.

Besides the usual records like the world’s largest, tallest, heaviest and the most extreme, it features new ones like ‘Fire Records’ which feature the most people spinning fire, largest bonfire, most people burned at stake and the largest burning man festival.

No book with an unattractive contents page is able to tempt readers. For that, the publishers went for an ‘Old Wild West’ kind of contents page that is attractive as well as helpful. Weird records like ‘Largest Gathering of Men with Moustache’ take bizarreness to an all-new level. If you think your grandparents are old, think again. United Kingdom’s Henry Allingham was only the 12th person ever to cross 113 years before his death last year. Talk about old people, you will be stunned to know that out of the 76 verifiable people over 110, only three have been men!

Among the many records, one would find handful of Pakistanis including fast bowler Umar Gul and all-rounder Yasir Arafat who have taken most wickets in Twenty20 international and domestic cricket respectively. Karachi’s Nargis Bhimji holds the world record for celebrating the longest birthday. In 1998, she travelled from Karachi to Singapore to San Francisco on her birthday, celebrating her birthday for 35 hours and 25 minutes, crossing two continents and three time zones in the process.

The book features names and pictures of people who have done something remarkable! It also guides potential record breakers as to how they should get in touch with the Guinness people before making an attempt to make or break a record. The most unconventional pages on the book are the ones dealing with ‘Comics’ and ‘Graphic novels’. To know more about the section, you will have to get your hands on the book.

As for the questions asked before, Cristiano Ronaldo was named so because his father’s favourite actor was Ronald Reagan, who went onto become the US President. Afghanistan is the world’s most dangerous city to live in where average adult life lasts less than 44 years. Avatar is the highest grossing movie ever produced, bettering the record held by Titanic. Filled with colour photographs and some in actual size for easy reference, Guinness World Records 2010 is a guide to the most interesting things to happen in this world! — S. F.