A P Herbert's acclaimed 'word war' was first waged in Punch, for 'the lasting Benefit of the King's English', and went on to elicit a host of amused, outraged and sympathetic counter-attacks. The very best of these semantic skirmishes are collected here with APH providing a mountain of ammunition for his noble battle. 'Plain English', 'Jungle English' and 'Valuable Neologisms' are all addressed, and fortified or demolished as APH commands. Now over sixty years since first publication, the 'word war' rages on, with a host of new coinages and expressions joining the ranks, but the worthy principles of the combat remain the same. Take arms and join APH in the fight! - whichever side of the great lexicological divide you happen to fall.

Sir Arthur Herbert was born in 1890 and educated at Winchester and Oxford. Having achieved a first in Jurisprudence, he then joined the Royal Navy and served both at Gallipoli and in France during the First World War. He was called to the Bar in 1918, and went on to become a Member of Parliament for Oxford University from 1935 to 1950. Throughout his life A P Herbert was a prolific writer, delighting his many readers with his witty observations and social satires in the columns of Punch. He was the creator of a host of colourful characters - notably Topsy, Albert Haddock and Mr Honeybubble - and wrote novels, poems, musicals, essays, sketches and articles. He was also a tireless campaigner for reform, a denouncer of injustice and a dedicated conserver of the Thames. By the time of his death in 1971, he had gained a considerable following and was highly regarded in literary circles. J M Barrie, Hilaire Belloc, Rudyard Kipling and John Galsworthy all delighted in his work, and H G Wells applauded him saying, 'You are the greatest of great men. You can raise delightful laughter and that is the only sort of writing that has real power over people like me.'