WHATEVER YOU WANT TO KNOW IN 2008 . . . General information from Gordon Brown to the Gordian Knot Science explained - Darwinism to dark matter, the Big Bang to bird flu Complete Sporting Almanac and Literary Companion Who's who and has been who throughout history Prizewinners- Olympics to Oscars, Nobel to Grand National Colour World Atlas and Gazetteer Medical matters, the Environment and Economics Ideas and beliefs - acupuncture to Zoroastrianism - elucidated Dictionaries of Art, Music and Cinema Practical Pension, Mortgage and Tax Advice World Affairs from Iran to Hugo Chavez Pearsis as British as cricket (there's coverage of the Ashes, World Cup and 40 years of Test results), Shakespeare (a useful precis of all his plays) and, of course, Britpop (an illuminating paragraph on musical style, history and the bands).