The Dictionary People

Marvellous… An unmissable, wonderful achievement – Stephen FryProof that not only do our words have extraordinary lives, but so do the people who have documented them for us. A lively, entertaining, and illuminating read. I loved it – Susie DentBrilliant – Philippa PerryUtterly fascinating, entertaining, astonishing and as clever as a box of monkeys… I am bowled over by Sarah Ogilvie’s book and every home should have a copy. I completely love it * Joanna Lumley *Astonishing * Kathryn Hughes, The Sunday Times *Who knew such mysteries lay behind the Oxford English Dictionary? This is a fascinating, unique and original book which uncovers the people behind the words. A jaw-dropping cross-section of society are revealed for the first time in all their complexity * Janina Ramirez, author of Femina *Fascinating * Observer *Exquisitely written … A lively, funny book full of eccentrics * Jamaica Kincaid *The Dictionary People is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in dictionaries, social history or just people. Sarah Ogilvie has found a great subject and done it justice * Literary Review *Enthralling and exuberant, Sarah Ogilvie tells the surprising story of the making of the OED. Philologists, fantasists, crackpots, criminals, career spinsters, suffragists, and Australians: here is a wonder-book for word-lovers * Jeanette Winterson *

Sarah Ogilvie teaches at the University of Oxford, and specializes in language, dictionaries, and technology. As a lexicographer she has been an editor at the Oxford English Dictionary and was Chief Editor of Oxford Dictionaries in Australia. As a technologist she has worked in Silicon Valley at Lab 126, Amazon’s innovation lab, where she was part of the team that developed the Kindle. She originally studied computer science and mathematics before taking her doctorate in Linguistics at the University of Oxford, and then taught at Cambridge and Stanford.