Humanity’s horizons are expanding once again, and our world is experiencing unprecedented change. Keeping up with this dizzying revolution are the Guinness World Records adjudicators, who’ve been busier than ever documenting the Officially Amazing. The result is Guinness World Records 2023!

We start with a tour of our Solar System and beyond, exploring astronomical superlatives in a chapter dedicated to the latest developments in the New Space Race. Back down to Earth, we delve into the natural world to encounter the animal kingdom’s mightiest and most bizarre beasts.

Get up close and personal with the most iconic human beings – the tallest, shortest, strongest and hairiest – and be amazed at the extraordinary skills on display from the world’s greatest jugglers, rock-climbers, freestylers and mermaids (yes, mermaids!).

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, we dedicate a chapter to a whistle-stop tour of our planet from the comfort of your armchair, pointing out record-worthy landmarks, tourist hot-spots and cultural phenomena.

Our team of gaming consultants and editors have picked out the Top 25 Greatest Gaming Records of All Time – does your favourite game get a mention?

We end with every significant new sporting achievement logged in the 30-page Sports section.

In this mind-blowing follow-up to the bestselling Information is Beautiful, the king of infographics David McCandless uses spectacular visuals to reveal unexpected insights into how the world really works.

We are living in the Information Age, in which we are constantly bombarded with data - on television, in print and online. How can we relate to this mind-numbing overload? Enter David McCandless and his amazing infographics: simple, elegant ways to understand information too complex or abstract to grasp any way but visually. In his unique signature style, he creates dazzling displays that blend facts with their connections, contexts and relationships, making information meaningful, entertaining - and beautiful.

Taking infographics to the next level, his new book Knowledge is Beautiful is an endlessly fascinating spin through the world of visualized data, which offers a deeper, more wide-ranging look at the world and its history. Covering everything from dog breeds and movie plots to the origins of life and a timeline of the far future, this stunning book is guaranteed to enrich your understanding of the world.

A holistic and extensive exploration of both the dynamic and incremental changes in EU public policy and the decision processes surrounding them, this Elgar Encyclopedia is the definitive reference work in the field of EU public policy. Unifying theoretical insights with empirical phenomena, this pioneering Encyclopedia begins by engaging with the multi-level structure of the EU's polity and identifies how this affects public policy, considering the role of various non-state actors in EU policymaking, and the concepts of Europeanization and policy diffusion. Offering a theoretical introduction to policy integration, it examines intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism, and postfunctionalism, alongside an innovative analysis of policy styles and the effects of recent crises on EU public policy, including COVID-19 and populism. Chapters conclude by reflecting on policy implementation and dynamics, and the impact of feedback on public policies and institutions. Ultimately demonstrating that the study of public policy in the EU has produced a set of EU-specific analytical perspectives, this timely book will guide further research avenues into EU public policy for students and scholars interested in (EU) public policy, public administration and comparative politics, alongside informing the decision-making of policymakers globally. Key Features: Accessible format split into 9 thematic parts Fully cross-referenced with select bibliographies for further reading Entries written by an international and interdisciplinary group of over 90 preeminent experts in the field of public policy

Fully revised and updated, and with a bright new design, Guinness World Records 2022 provides a fascinating snapshot of our world today.

Our editors have chosen to curate the book with environmental issues at the forefront of their mind, so we open with a chapter exploring what’s happening to our ecosystem and what superlative lengths people are going to make a difference. We also want to encourage readers to put their own record-breaking to good, so look out for projects that might inspire you to make a difference – so don’t just Discover Your World, Change Your World!

Despite the challenges of the past year, it’s been business as usual at Guinness World Records, and our researchers continue to field thousands of applications a month. Expect that unique mix of remarkable humans, talented pets, incredible vehicles and impressive sporting legends.

What you’ll find inside:

• Environmental champions – the eco-warriors fighting to make our planet a better place
• Wonders of the natural world, from the most intelligent creatures to the deadliest plants
• The tallest and shortest… Our record scouts have measured a host of the world’s loftiest and diminutive humans
• Pop Culture icons – we reveal the world’s most successful movie franchises, videogames, toys and brand
• Young Achievers – meet the under-16 influencers, entrepreneurs and entertainers who are taking positive steps to change the world
• Sporting heroes – we review the biggest sporting achievements of the year and put them in context alongside the greatest athletes of all time

PLUS! Look out for bonus features including free Augmented Reality dinosaurs that come to life straight off the page; more inductees into the Guinness World Records Hall of Fame, including Sir David Attenborough, astronaut Peggy Whitson and K-Pop sensations BTS; and “Virtual Visits” that take you on a journey to some of the most fascinating and record-packed visitor attractions, museums, art galleries and parks – all without leaving your home!

“The Collins English Dictionary is a book to be treasured, no home should be without one”, The Times. The largest single-volume English dictionary in print celebrates the extraordinary breadth and changing nature of world English, with more than 732,000 words, meanings and phrases. Updated with the very latest new words and senses, this is an unparalleled resource for word lovers, word gamers and word geeks everywhere. It draws on Collins’ extensive language databases and covers many literary and rare words useful for crossword solvers and setters as well as Scrabble players. Ideal for use at work, at home and for study – new words, new meanings and new uses are tracked by Collins’ lexicographers who monitor language change around the world. This, along with suggestions from the public on the award-winning collinsdictionary.com, ensures Collins English Dictionary truly is the home of living language. More place names and biographical entries – with over 9,500 place names and 7,300 biographies you will find thousands of fascinating facts and figures at your fingertips. The latest edition is beautifully designed and printed, and now with a protective slipcase, and is surprisingly light and easy to hold. Designed for day-to-day use, with a clear layout and virtual thumb tabs, it is also available in flexible formats to suit every user – in print, as a Kindle dictionary and an iOS app.