Robert Smith Literary agency » Albert Jack

Albert Jack

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:27:47 +0000

Albert Jack is a writer and historian. His first book, Red Herrings and White Elephants, explored the origins of well-known phrases. An international bestseller, it was serialised by the Sunday Times for over a year. He followed up this success with a series of bestsellers including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep and Pop Goes the Weasel, a book exploring the dark histories and little-known meanings behind nursery rhymes. His latest book is It’s A Wonderful Word.

Fascinated by discovering the truth behind the world greatest stories, Albert has become an expert in explaining the unexplained. He is now a veteran of hundreds of live television shows and thousands of radio appearances worldwide. He divides his time between Guildford and Cape Town.

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They Laughed at Galileo: How The Great Inventors Proved Their Critics Wrong

Robert Smith — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:44:07 +0000

From the wireless to the computer, and from hula hoops to interplanetary travel, inventions and discoveries have changed our lifestyles in ways that would have astounded our ancestors. Each of them was originally developed by visionaries who dreamt of the seemingly impossible, but who were opposed by an array of experts publicly declaring that ‘It cannot be done.’

Well, yes it could, and here’s the story of how those dreamers overcame the odds against them.

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It’s A Wonderful Word: The real origins of our favourite words, from anorak to zombie

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 22:36:21 +0000

What have spondulics to do with spines or lawyers with avocados? In It’s A Wonderful Word, Albert Jack collects over 500 of the strangest, funniest-sounding and most downright delightful words in the English language, and traces them back to their often puzzling origins.

The post It’s A Wonderful Word: The real origins of our favourite words, from anorak to zombie appeared first on Robert Smith Literary agency.

Phantom Hitchhikers and Decoy Ducks: The strange stories behind urban legends

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 23:18:45 +0000

Have you heard the one about Winston Churchill being a druid? Coca-Cola owning Santa Claus? Alligators in Sewers? Or the Beast of Bodmin Moor? We all love a good story. But have you ever wondered where the urban legends, conspiracy theories and old wives’ tales we hear every day really come from? And whether any of them are actually true?

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Shaggy Dogs & Black Sheep: The origins of even more phrases we use every day

admin — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:28:57 +0000

Where is the last chance saloon? Who were Gordon Bennett and Smart Aleck? Why do we have a hunch, get the cold shoulder, laugh like a drain, or get dressed up to the nines? We use these phrases every day and yet have little or no idea where most of them come from. Here Albert Jack takes us on a fascinating journey through the curious and often bizarre origins of hundreds of our favourite words and expressions.

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