Bookish words,& their surprising stories

A review

It has always been my practice to “read around” a subject, to become familiar with the nooks and crannies, so to speak. Thus when I was studying Economic History I read Rural Rides, by William Cobbett. It had no bearing on what was likely to come up in the exam, but it gave me a feel for the era in which Cobbett was writing.

Similarly, while studying Ham…