Paginate data from MySQL in reverse order

readme.php

<?php
    // database connection
    $dbHost     = 'localhost';
    $dbUsername = 'root';
    $dbPassword = 'secret';
    $dbName     = 'database_name';
    $conn = new mysqli($dbHost, $dbUsername, $dbPassword, $dbName);
    if ($conn->connect_error) {
        die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
    }

    // how many records should be displayed on a page?
    $records_per_page = 10;

    // include the pagination class
    require 'path/to/Zebra_Pagination.php';

    // instantiate the pagination object
    $pagination = new Zebra_Pagination();

    // show records in reverse order
    $pagination->reverse(true);

    // when showing records in reverse order, we need to know the total number
    // of records from the beginning
    $count = mysqli_query($conn, 'SELECT COUNT(id) AS records FROM countries') or die (mysqli_error($conn));

    // pass the total number of records to the pagination class
    $total = mysqli_fetch_assoc($count);
    $pagination->records(array_pop($total));

    // records per page
    $pagination->records_per_page($records_per_page);

    // the MySQL statement to fetch the rows
    // note the LIMIT - use it exactly like that!
    // also note that we're ordering data descendingly - most important when we're
    // showing records in reverse order!
    $sql = '
        SELECT
            country
        FROM
            countries
        ORDER BY
            country DESC
        LIMIT
            ' . (($pagination->get_pages() - $pagination->get_page()) * $records_per_page) . ', ' . $records_per_page . '
    ';

    // run the query
    $result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql) or die(mysqli_error($conn));
?>

<table>
    <tr><th>Country</th></tr>
    <?php $index = 0; while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)): ?>
    <tr<?php echo $index++ % 2 ? ' class="even"' : ''; ?>>
        <td><?php echo $row['country']; ?></td>
    </tr>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
</table>

<?php
    // render the pagination links
    $pagination->render();
?>