From Powells.com
Erudite noir. "A tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary," as the book's subtitle explains, The Professor and the Madman tells the true story of Dr. W. C. Minor, a convicted murderer who from his book-lined cell at Englands Broadmoor Lunatic Criminal Asylum provided more than 10,000 definitions for the greatest reference work ever created.... Dave Weich, Powells.com
Staff Pick
One of the best nonfiction books I've come across, Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman is a riveting read. That seems an unlikely thing to say about the history of the making of The Oxford English Dictionary, but Winchester's genius makes the subject come alive like the best thriller ever written. Delicious! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the
Oxford English Dictionary--and literary history. The compilation of the
OED, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.
About the Author
Simon Winchester was a geologist at Oxford and worked in Africa and on offshore oil rigs before becoming a full-time globe-trotting foreign correspondent and writer. He currently lives on a small farm in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, an apartment in New York's West Village and in the Western Isles of Scotland.