Once one gets out of school, we like to test our knowledge. Television and the papers are full of various forms of quizzes asking a wide range of questions from gardening, to geography; auto repair to anthropology and many others. For most of you reading this, it has to be history that has your interest.

To this point, Osprey has provided a book that is nothing but questions on history from the beginning to modern times. Some of it is relatively easy and some of it is very much a "huh?". The book is divided into three sections with questions that are easy, moderate and difficult. To be frank, easy is a relative terms as if one knows zilch about, say the Roman Legions, then even easy is impossible to answer without some sort of educated guess.

Most questions are either multiple choice or true or false. Some require you to fill in a blank or provide an answer from memory. There are also some interesting tidbits of information strewn through the book. All of the answers are provided in the back of each section so you can see how well you did. Each of the true/false or multiple choice questions has a check box so you can mark your reply.

Here are a sample of questions from all three sections.

Easy: Who designed the M1911 pistol?

Moderate: What type of weapon was a framea? A. sword  B. dagger  C. mace D. spear

Difficult: The term commando comes from the Boer War. True or False

It is a fun book, though if you are like me, you'll think you need to go back to the fourth grade to answer some of these. It is a book you can share with your friends and is one that I'm sure you will enjoy going over.

November 2010

For more on the complete line of Osprey books, visit www.ospreypublishing.com. In the US, it is Osprey Direct at 44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101., where you can get a catalogue of available books.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.