Fantastic Miscellany Special Offer!
For a short time only you can buy all three of my miscellanies — The Book Lovers’ Miscellany, A Library Miscellany and A Museum Miscellany […]
Category: Uncategorized
Nonfictioness in top blogs list
I was delighted and pleasantly surprised to find that my nonfictioness blog had been included in Feedspot’s Top 25 Nonfiction Blogs. There are some excellent […]
Introducing my next book: The Real McCoy
It is with great excitement that I announce my next book: The Real McCoy and 149 Other Eponyms. Here is a taster of what to […]
Zui haui – The ‘guilty’ pagoda tree
Zui haui literally translates as ‘the guilty pagoda tree’ and it was so-named as it was from this tree that the last ruler of the […]
The Royal Oak and the Daring Escape of King Charles II
Numerous pubs across Britain are named The Royal Oak in recognition of the national importance of one large oak tree in Boscobel House, Shropshire. On […]
On the perils of being a non-fiction writer
When meeting new people there is always a question I dread. The most innocuous of polite questions: ‘What do you do?’ The reason I dread […]
Book announcement: The Book Lovers’ Miscellany
Exciting news, in September 2017 my next book will be published by Bodleian Library Publishing. I wanted to share here the gorgeous cover art and some […]
Chatting about weasels, insults and writing on Bookmark
On 11 February I was thrilled to be included in an edition of Leigh Chamber‘s Bookmark on Cambridge 105, alongside the author Tom Connolly. You […]
Eponyms from Greek & Roman Mythology
Many commonly (or not so commonly) used words have their origins in characters from Greek or Roman history/mythology. Some stories behind these words named after […]
The Last Words of Evariste Galois
Evariste Galois (1811–32) was an extremely promising French mathematician however a series of strange events and a tragic early death would conspire to obscure his […]