Fame By Chance by Donough O'Brien (Bene Factum Publishing, £14.99)

WOULD the world have known about Chappaquiddick - let alone the unfortunate Mary Jo Kopechne - if Teddy Kennedy hadn't partied at the island on July 18, 1969?

Would horse riders be wearing jodphurs if the Jodphur polo team hadn't been such hot-shots?

What would bon viveurs drinking if it wasn't for Cognac? What would big businessmen be smoking if it wasn't for Havana? What would millions of sweet-toothed Americans be eating if it wasn't for Hershey?

Here is the book of 100s of places that have found fame for unusual and not always edifying reasons... hence Dachau, Oradour, Lockerbie, Dallas.

Strangely, Albert Square and Ramsey Street are listed, as is Ambridge and Springfield (home of The Simpsons) but not Coronation Street or Weatherfield. Obviously an oversight?

The loo is probably the strangest inclusion - named after a practical joke on the Earl of Lichfield's great aunt Lady Louisa, when her name card was removed from a bedroom door and placed on the door of a wc.

O'Brien says the book was conceived in a Dublin pub and one can well believe this. It's hugely entertaining and more importantly a great point of reference.

David Chapman