The Monkman and Seagull Quiz Book is a modern classic: a book game that challenges everyone to join in and play. You probably know them best from the electrifying matches of University Challenge 2016-17, which saw perhaps the series’ most memorable contestants ever, dapper Bobby Seagull and fan-favourite Eric Monkman, go head-to-head.
In this, their first quiz book, Monkman and Seagull are on the same team – and their opponent is you and your friends and family. Containing 550 questions ranging across space and time on topics historical, numerical and hysterical, this book will see the devilish wit of our brainiest boffins put to the page for the first time.
With tricks and tests to taunt even the smuggest sofa-shouter, it’s packed with puzzles and pop quizzes on everything from particle physics to philharmonics. Featuring questions from BBC Radio 4’s infamous 6.48 am Puzzle For Today as well as tons of entirely new rounds, it’s sure to perplex even the most knowledgeable quizzers.
See if you’re smarter than an eleven-year-old in the primary school round, test your reactions with the Starter for 10s, or stick to traditional British stalwarts in the Newspaper Quiz and Pub Quiz sections.
Bobby Seagull was born in East Ham and went to St. Bonaventure’s School in Forest Gate. He has a Master’s in Education specialising in Maths from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He worked as a financial markets trader at Lehman Brothers, and qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC, before co-founding oxFizz, an educational social enterprise.
Eric Monkman is from Oakville, Ontario, and did his Master’s in Economics at Wolfson College, Cambridge. He was adored so much on University Challenge that he spawned the hashtag #Monkmania, and T-shirts with his face on them. Sadly he is not able to be at The Wanstead Tap for this event.
“Monkman and Seagull show that a lot of knowledge is a wonderful thing and they do it with style, charm and endearing gusto.” – Stephen Fry
“What Watson and Crick were to DNA, and Burke and Hare were to grave-robbing, Monkman and Seagull are to quizzing.” – Louis Theroux
Interested in learning more about Newham Bookshop and some of the people connected with it? We have four lessons for classroom or family use developed from On the Record’s oral history project centered around Newham Bookshop, Writing and Reading Newham. Click here for full details.
We are proud that Newham Bookshop is LoveReading’s Bookshop of the Month. The article features a Q&A with Vivian Archer, which you can read here.
