The dog philosopher -- The vestal virgin -- The plague -- The master's ferret -- The visitor to Strasbourg -- The deputy groom of the stool -- The Royal Oak -- The last dodo -- The inimitable Charlie -- The Wheat Field Marshal

"History belongs to the heroes. But to get the full story, sometimes you have to ask the side characters. The lives of Leonardo da Vinci, Henry VIII and Queen Victoria fill bookshelves and fascinate scholars all over the world. But little attention is given to the ferret who posed for the renaissance master, the servant who oversaw the Tudor's toilet time, or the famous horse who thrilled the miserable old monarch. These supporting cast members have been waiting in the wings for too long, and Adrian Bliss thinks it's high time they join their glory-hogging contemporaries in the spotlight. Fortunately, - thanks to some recently discovered ancient complaint letters, court transcripts and memoirs in bottles - now they can. Equal parts fascinating and hilarious, the this is a surreal love letter to life's forgotten heroes featuring hitherto undocumented accounts from Ancient Greece to the frontlines of the Great Emu War. All that follows really happened, and some of it could even be true"--Publisher's description