"This is Borzoi Book.'"--Title page verso

A for archaeologist -- B for best contributor -- C for cannibal -- D for dictionary word nerds -- E for Europeans -- F for families -- G for glossotypists -- H for hopeless contributors -- I for inventors -- J for junkie -- K for kleptomaniac -- L for lunatics -- M for murderers -- N for New Zealanders -- O for outsiders -- P for pornographer -- Q for queers -- R for rain collectors -- S for suffragists -- T for tramps, the Sunday -- U for USA -- V for vicars (and vegetarians) -- W for women -- X for xenomaniacs (and esperantists) -- Y for Yonge, Charlotte, and other novelists -- Z for zealots

For the first time ever, this thrilling literary detective story, doubling as a celebration of words, language, people and one of mankind's greatest achievements, unravels the mystery of the contributors from around the world who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read, write and speak

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage, a division of Penguin Random House Ltd, London, in 2023."--Title page verso