Remember, Remember: Learn the Stuff You Thought You Never Could

by Ed Cooke

Kings and queens, British prime ministers, American presidents, countries of Europe - we should all know these things - but like me, you’re probably resigned to being the kind of person that just never will. Now Grandmaster of Memory Ed Cooke offers up his memory secrets with a fun, quick and completely unforgettable way to remember the things you thought you never could. But this is no boring Willy, Willy, Harry, Ste. With Ed leading the way on unlikely adventures through people and places, Abraham Lincoln may become a circle of bra-wearing hams linking arms in your mind, and you may well encounter a fridge wearing Calvin Klein underpants. You could also soon find yourself rattling off the prime ministers to a rapt audience and adding, in a knowing tone, ’ah yes, Marquess of Rockingham, Whig I believe?’. What is for sure is that you’ll be bursting with knowledge that will stick in your mind and impress your friends for ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Trivia, Reference, Productivity, Brain

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 2008

Reviews

[Veronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Entertaining and useful read.

Ed Cooke has put together several surreal 'journeys', with amusing illustrations, to help people put to memory certain lists. I can imagine students finding this way a lot easier and much more appealing to learn the list of kings and queens for instance. This method puts into practice the three tenets of memorisation - the technique of Loci, visualisation and association - but doesn't tell the readers how to do this for themselves. Therefore this book is best used once you have already looked into the matter. Additionally, the author doesn't explain what to do in order to make the information stay in your head long term (you need to revise it after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, etc.). Still, a handy little volume...

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

About three years ago, I used this book to memorise the entire sequence of kings and queens of England starting from King Offa. Today, I can tell you there's maybe six Georges? Eight Henrys? A Harald, maybe? It didn't stick.

[Manuel A. Crespo-Rodríguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book has been a joyful experience. This man trained Joshua Foer!

[Jessica Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well-written, engaging introduction to building "memory palaces" and becoming a memory master! I really enjoyed memorizing the examples in the book, and using the same ideas to create my own ways to remember things I care about.

[Jesse Jost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful if you specifically want to remember the Kings of England, the Presidents of the US, or the Prime Ministers of England. Otherwise it's not real helpful for other memory applications.

[rita berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that you made

I like the book but I don't love it and the book was hard to read in some areas where I was

[Bohdan Shtepan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather disappointing read, given the name behind this text. If you're looking for a reputable book on mnemotechnics, look elsewhere.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book demonstrates the techniques that Joshua Foer’s book “Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything” talks about. As a matter of fact, the author of this book was Joshua’s coach for the American Memory Championship. Other than demonstrating the techniques (learning the Kings of England, Presidents of the United States and Prime Ministers of Britain), it doesn’t offer much else.

[Toons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Provided me days of entertainment. Going through my memory palaces on the train and walking to work. Pretty much nailed Kings and Queens of England, US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers.

I've been interested in memory palaces since reading Moonwalking with Einstein. These are excellent examples of how a professional builds memory trails.

Highly recommended.

[Ahmed Amir Neihoum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very daft book. Cooke explains his technique to learn anything by giving a thorough example of how to remember the whole British royal family and the presidents of the USA. He gives tips on how to use this technique to learn absolutely anything else.

[Gregg Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real examples & results! Learn by DOING

Great real examples of memory techniques by the world memory champion and teacher of Joshua Foer, author of "Moonwalking with Einstein"