How did Texas cattle rancher Samuel Maverick become the byword for quirky non-conformity?What is the connection between a rather unflattering item of clothing and French trapeze virtuoso Jules Leotard? Which filling did the 4th Earl of Sandwich opt for when he made his great culinary invention? And was there really a country squire called Sir Oswald Binge whose week-long feasts were notorious for their excess? A dip into "The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium" will answer these and many other questions you forgot to ask about the heroic individuals who made our language what it is.

Author Biography

Philip Dodd developed a love of words and language as the son of dedicated crossword solvers, while studying French and Spanish at Jesus College, Oxford, and in a career as a book publisher and editor. His books include The Book Of Cities (Pavilion, with Ben Donald), a tour d'horizon of the world's most intriguing metropolises, and Musical Instruments (HarperCollins), one of the Collins Gem series. He has also worked with the Rolling Stones, interviewing them for their 2003 autobiography According To The Rolling Stones, and with Nick Mason on his memoir Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd, and he is the editor of Genesis: Chapter & Verse. He lives in St John's Wood, London and Rochester, Kent with his wife, two daughters and a tankful of guppies.