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Since Records Began!: The Highs and Lows of Britain's Weather | 
| Author: Paul Simons
Publisher: Collins
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.99
You Save: £5.00 (50%)
New (26) Used (3) from £2.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 1877
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0007284632
EAN: 9780007284634
ASIN: 0007284632
Publication Date: September 1, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 fascinating stuff November 19, 2008
I found this book fascinating. I really enjoyed reading about the records concerning British weather, such as The Weirdest Showers or The 1987 Storm. It is interesting to see how the British climate has changed so much over the 1000 years the book covers and the freakish goings on of our weather!
 Snowballing bandwagons November 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
No one would accuse Simons of being a stylist. Observe the steady drizzle of cliche ('The disaster sent shock waves through the public. The Bridge had been opened only for 18 months, and was seen as a triumph of Victorian engineering'). Marvel as he mixes his metaphors ('But the white Christmas bandwagon snowballed and the icy charms of A Christmas Carol struck a chord with the Victorians, nostalgic for the past...'). Shiver at the redundancies ('By 1779 Britain was almost on the verge of bankruptcy...'). He can keep this up for pages, the prose equivalent of a wet November.
But the style is not the only annoying feature of the book. Although marketed as 'a complete guide to record-breaking weather in the British Isles', there is no index or indeed any other reliable way of locating information about the wettest day or the biggest hail-stones.
Nor does Simons acknowledge any of his sources, so there is no way of checking up on the information, or reading further into the subject. Numerous typos and missing words also betray the speed and lack of care with which the book has been assembled.
The subject matter is, of course, fascinating. But it could all have been done so much better.
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