A reference book like no other, BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE, has been an inspiration to readers, writers and adventurous thinkers everywhere from its first appearance in the reign of Queen Victoria right up to the present day. Authors as diverse as Philip Pullman, Sir Terry Pratchett, Maeve Binchy and Carol Rumens are all devoted fans. This remarkable book offers a rich mixture of more than 19,000 words, expressions, legends, folklore, general knowledge and choice morsels of trivia, with explanations of everything from elephant in the room to sick as a parrot, from Doctor Who to dwile flonking.

This revised and expanded edition features hundreds of new entries on everything from blogs and designer babies to New York s mysterious sewer-dwelling alligators, as well as a selection of heritage entries from a Victorian edition of Brewer s: see enchanted castles, magic garters and poison detectors.

The sheer scope of BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE, together with its delightful mix of scholarship and eccentricity, makes it a must for every 21st-century bookshelf.