Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
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Part homage to the greatest reference work of all time, the Oxford English Dictionary, part mystery, part intellectual history of Victorian England, The Professor and the Madman tells the parallel stories of the dictionary's genius editor and one of his most prolific contributors, an insane American doctor committed to an asylum for murder. USA Today - Bob Minzesheimer It's a story for readers who know the joy of words and can appreciate side trips through the history of dictionaries and marvel at the idea that when Shakespeare wrote, there were no dictionaries to consult.... Winchester, a British journalist who's written 12 other books, combines a reporter's eye for detail with a historian's sense of scale. His writing is droll and eloquent.
1: The Dead of Night in Lambeth Marsh 2: The Man Who Taught Latin to Cattle 3: The Madness of War 4: Gathering Earth's Daughters 5: The Big Dictionary Conceived 6: The Scholar in Cell Block Two 7: Entering the Lists 8: Annulated, Art, Brick-Tea, Buckwheat 9: The Meeting of Minds 10: The Unkindest Cut 11: Then Only the Monuments Postscript Author's Note Acknowledgments Suggestions for Further Reading
