Audio only
The Professor and The Madman
A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English DictionaryBy Simon WinchesterNarrated by Simon WinchesterLength7h 20m
About this audiobook
A New York Times Notable Book
The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary—and literary history.
The making of the OED was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, was stunned to discover that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. But their surprise would pale in comparison to what they were about to discover when the committee insisted on honoring him. For Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.
Masterfully researched and eloquently written, The Professor and the Madman “is the linguistic detective story of the decade.” (William Safire, New York Times Magazine)
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir, History
Length7 hrs 20 mins
Narrated bySimon Winchester
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 13, 2004
LanguageEnglish
More from Simon Winchester
LandSimon Winchester13h 47m$5 · $0.00
PacificSimon Winchester14h 3m$33 · $0.00
The Man Who Loved ChinaSimon Winchester9h 14m$29 · $0.00
The Breath of the GodsSimon Winchester13h 52m$33 · $0.00
Knowing What We KnowSimon Winchester14h 19m$33 · $0.00
AtlanticSimon Winchester14h 30m$33 · $0.00
The PerfectionistsSimon Winchester11h 46m$29 · $0.00
The Men Who United the StatesSimon Winchester13h 34m$33 · $0.00
The Alice Behind WonderlandSimon Winchester2h 44m$18 · $0.00
The Meaning of EverythingSimon Winchester7h 19m$24 · $0.00
A Crack in the Edge of the WorldSimon Winchester12h 31m$33 · $0.00
KrakatoaSimon Winchester12h 1m$8 · $0.00
The Map That Changed the WorldSimon Winchester10h$7 · $0.00
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m$24 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 36m$1 · $0.00
Send MeMarty Skovlund, Joe Kent8h 10m$26 · $0.00
Ulysses S. Grant: Life of the Fearless General & Commander-in-Chief (Complete Edition - Volumes 1&2)Ulysses S. Grant30h 44m$0.99 · $0.00
Left for DeadEbony Canion5h 34m$17
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m$0.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m5.0 (1)$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m5.0 (2)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m$24 · $0.00
The Redeemer’s ReturnArthur W. Pink13h 18m$20
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass44h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Annotated)Howard Irving Chapelle, Tappan Adney13h 9m$0.99 · $0.00
I've Been to the MountaintopMartin Luther King48m5.0 (2)$11 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal11h 23m$29 · $0.00
We Crossed a Bridge and It TrembledWendy Pearlman6h$24 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m$26 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m$29 · $0.00
Saving My EnemyBob Welch9h 11m$20
On Democracies and Death CultsDouglas Murray10h 38m$29 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m$29 · $0.00
The Red Record (Annotated)Ida B. Wells-Barnett5h 19m$0.99 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m$33 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
EnduranceAlfred Lansing6h 1m$20
LES MISERABLES (Illustrated Edition)Victor Hugo66h 17m$1 · $0.00
You may also like
Thomas Wingfold, CurateGeorge MacDonald17h 12m$2.30 · $0.00
The Way of Peace and As a Man ThinkethJames Allan2h 46m$2.30
Understanding Human RelationshipsSteve Pavlina16m$4 · $0.00
She’s Got IssuesNicole Unice7h 48m$20 · $0.00
Mental Fitness: How to build mental strength and fitness to take on life's challenges, from bestselling author of HOW TO ESCAPE FROM PRISONPaul Wood9h 10m$29 · $0.00
Madras (Chennai) 1977 78 - Public Discussion 1 - Desire in itself is not contradictoryJ. Krishnamurti1h 29m$6 · $0.00
The Mastery of DestinyJames Allen1h 44m$2.30 · $0.00
Get It TogetherLauren Berger5h 26m$20 · $0.00
All These Things AddedJames Allen2h 37m$1 · $0.00
InsightFabiana Santos10m$6 · $0.00
Celebration of DisciplineRichard J. Foster3h 14m$18 · $0.00
THOUGHT VIBRATION - The Law of Attraction in the Thought World (Unabridged) (Annotated)William Walker Atkinson3h 18m$2 · $0.00
Big TrustShadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah8h 36m$26 · $0.00
The Power Of HumilityPV Ramana Murthy9h 2m$29 · $0.00
The direct ZEN-Way to LiberationZensho W. Kopp2h 6m$13 · $0.00
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of LoyolaIgnatius of Loyola4h 34m$1 · $0.00
Whole DetoxDeanna Minich9h 18m$29 · $0.00
Conscience and Sin: Daily Meditations for Lent, Including Week-days and SundaysS. Baring-Gould4h 1m$2 · $0.00
A Man of the WorldAnnie Payson Call41m$2 · $0.00
The Way Of PeaceJames Allen2h 12m$3 · $0.00