The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind

I’ve only spot read some of this book since there are 1320 pages including indices, so I can only rate my first impression. But, WOW, what a treasure trove of information! It covers so many areas that it is practically mind-boggling. I checked out some areas I knew well and sure enough, there was information I didn’t know about them. I am truly impressed. If you enjoy learning this book will be a real treat. Add to what you already think you know or go off into a new area. Either way, you’ll enjoy this mighty tome! Top marks!

Full of interesting facts

I just can't get enough of this book! I have been reading this daily, for a couple ofweeks and I can't believe the amount of information I was able to grasp. Sure, all theinformation is available on the web but I was looking for a book that would give a'big picture' or a 'bird's eye- view' of important events and topics and this bookfit the bill perfectly.I use it as a starting point along withThe New York Times Presents Smarter by Sunday: 52 Weekends of Essential Knowledge for the Curious Mind. I then proceed to read about the sametopic on Wikipedia or an encyclopedia like Encarta/Britannica. You could even try doing theseside by side.My pursuit of knowledge has begun! And, I am loving it!Cheers!

My 9 year old nephew, Chris, has found an error on page 604. It turns out that you can't have four numbers in the millions category, and the population in less developed countries should be 5,299,115,000. It was published as 5,0299,115,000. Despite this error, Chris enjoys reading the book, and finds the war histories particularly interesting. He highly recommends the book to others!

This sucker is BIG! It's a nice, big book, and the quality of it is very nice. I have some really cook book ends and was in the market for reference books to use with it, and it looks fantastic on my desk in my office. As far as the subjects covered, what doesn't it cover? I plan on learning a lot, and I'm very happy I decided to get this. I don't see how someone could be disappointed with it, unless they were to receive a damaged copy.

The only complaint I had was that the pages of the book were still together like they weren't pulled apart when the book was made.

In the days of search engines, it is a delight to find a book that has tons of the kind of information you once knew but can't recall. Though probably not designed this way, I found it a delight to read it as a novel. I would look up a concept, find it, get my answer, then continue reading that section and a few pages forward of where I started. It will be a gift for those who just don't want to "search" for every answer, but who still enjoys the joy of reading.

Recommend this book, full of all kinds of topics great conversation piece or if you are a life learner wanting to expand your current knowledge base, this book is a must have