“The greatest enterprise of its kind in history,” was the verdict ofBritishprime ministerStanley BaldwininJune 1928whenThe Oxford English Dictionarywas finally published. With its 15,490 pages & nearly two million quotations, it was indeed a monumental achievement, gleaned from the efforts of hundreds of ordinary & extraordinary people who made it their mission to catalogue theEnglishlanguage in its entirety.InThe Meaning of Everything,Simon Winchestercelebrates this remarkable feat, & the fascinating characters who played such a vital part in its execution, from the colourfulFrederick Furnivall, cheerful promoter of an all-female sculling crew, toJames Murray, self-educated son of a draper, who spent half a century guiding the project towards fruition. Along the way, we learn which dictionary editor became the inspiration forKenneth Grahame's RattyinThe Wind in the Willows, & whyTolkienfound it so hard to define “walrus.”Written by the bestselling author ofThe Surgeon of Crowthorne&The Map That Changed the World,The Meaning of Everythingis an enthralling account of the creation of the world's greatest dictionary.°°°Simon Winchesterwas born & educated in England. He was a foreign correspondent for more than thirty years includng twelve years for theGuardianin Asia, reporting on the Hong Kong handover to China for the newspaper in 1997, & twenty years as the Asia editor forCondé Nast Traveler. He is the author of many highly acclaimed & bestsellng works of non-fiction. He now lives in Massachusetts.