“Then, as still today, the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime was thought of as somehow a very un-British act—and as something to be written about and recorded as a rarity.”

Winchester begins the book with the murder committed by Dr. William Minor that institutionalized for most of his life. Even in Lambeth Marsh, one of the seedier areas of Victorian London, murder was rare and the use of a handgun was even rarer.

“Dr. William C. Minor, surgeon-captain, U.S. Army, a forlornly proud figure from one of the oldest and best-regarded families of New England, was henceforward to be formally designated in Britain by Broadmoor File Number 742, and to be held in permanent custody as a certified criminal lunatic.” 

At the conclusion of Minor’s trial, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Because of this, despite Minor’s elite background and history as a successful surgeon, the judge applied the customary ruling that Minor be detained in safe custody at an asylum. 

“It took more than seventy years to create the twelve tombstone-size volumes that made up the first edition of what was to become the great Oxford English Dictionary.” 

Winchester shows readers how ambitious the idea of the OED was and how truly monumental the task of completing it was: The project took 70 years to finish.