Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It was the best edition of the book yet., 11 Jul 2000
By A Customer
I bought the 1999 edition of the guiness book for my father for Christmas, but first reviewed it. I was amazed at the content of it and how well catigories were chosen, and how the book was put together. I was so impressed that I weny out and bought the book for myself. I own all of the editions of the '90's and comparing it to others, it is the best. I enjoy not only filping through it, but there is one record I am looking into passing, because this book is very inspiring.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Death of a Reference Book, 7 Nov 1998
By A Customer
I buy a Guinness Book of Records every few years to bring myself up to date - I last bought one in 1993, and comparing the 1999 version to it is dismaying to say the least. For decades Guinness has been the number one reference book in the field of superlatives. It has always been entertaining, for use by children, casual browsers, and trivia lovers; and authoritative, for academics and quizmasters. Its completeness and accuracy have never been questioned. This latest edition is a triumph of style over content. The Smash-Hits-esque design is one completely dominated by photographs, with words apologetically inserted inbetween and over. To complete the look, all that is needed is an introduction by Zoe Ball or Chris Evans. The result of this is masses of information left out - I could find no trace of the largest bell in the world (the Tsar Kolokol) at all, while interesting side information, like the facts that the tallest man in the world had a 37AA shoe size, and was six feet tall when he was eight years old, are omitted. It gets worse - the most important quality for a record-breaker in this edition is fame. There are sections on Hollywood, Movie Stars, TV Stars, Pop Stars, Supermodels, Diana and Royalty, Celebrity Icons, High Fashion. The 1999 edition is symptomatic of the dumbing-down of our society and the ascendancy of yoof culture. I await the year 2000 'Lads' edition, edited by Melinda Messenger, with dread.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
May I disagree with the previous reviewers, 17 Sep 2008
I think some sort of justification for this book is needed.
The previous reviewers, I don't know who in God's name they were, are as wrong as is physically possible!
The Guinness Book of Records 1999 is a simply amazing book, packed with colour photos and masses and masses of records. There's not any record missing here.
Now I'm reviewing this on the 17 September 2008, I can easily say it beats even the later Guinness World Records books - it's just so much more colourful, bright, informative and it's just layed out in a much better way. Perhaps Guinness World Records 2006 is an exception.
All in all, then, G.B.O.R 1999 is an awe-inspiring book, a terrific read for anyone who wants to be amazed for hours on end.
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