Rummage: A History of the Things We Have Reused, Recycled and Refused to Let Go by Emily Cockayne Profile, 400 pages, £16.99
Would you like to know the origins of the word ‘shoddy’, the phrases ‘breeze blocks’ and ‘taking the piss’, or the forgotten histories of the delicious neologisms ‘bonzoline’ and ‘kamptulicon’? Or learn how to make an eco-house powered by its own toilet? Then Rummage is the book for you. Since 2007, Emily Cockayne has been publishing richly intriguing alternative histories. And the latest may be her best yet – a kind of alternative history of everything in Britain across the past 500 years.
This story is from the July 2020 edition of BBC History Magazine.
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This story is from the July 2020 edition of BBC History Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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