Rogues, Widows and Orphans : Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books

Fascinating' Daily Mail

'Word nerds, assemble. This is the book for us' Lucy Mangan

'A delightfully impish book of behind-the-scenes literary mishaps' Sunday Times

It's a long journey from a writer's mind to a finished book – and a lot needs to go right along the way. But isn't it more interesting when things go wrong?

With an expert Penguin editor as your guide, dive into the dark side of the book world: a secret history fizzing with scandals, rivalries, mistakes and con jobs.

We'll discover how the tiniest of typos can have oversized consequences, unearth horrifying examples of bad taste and worse style, and peek into tales of forgeries and feuds as dramatic as any thriller.

We'll unredact the most egregious cases of censorship, expose hoarders and thieves, and ask: after centuries of man-made mischief, can the humble book survive the new machine age?