Books by Simon Leyland

A HISTORY OF SOME VERY RUDE WORDS by Simon Leyland

A History of Some Very Rude Words

A look at the origins of our favourite swear words.

SEX LIVES OF THE FAMOUS by Simon Leyland

Sex Lives of the Famous: Part one

From Adolph Hitler to Nelson Rockefeller, Chopin to Mozart, P.Diddy to Sting…some of the most peculiar sex lives ever !

A Very Short History of Beans

The humble bean as you will have never seen before.
Discover why Pythagarus would not eat beans, why it was forbidden for nuns to eat them, how a fart from eating beans started a war, why baked beans are not what they say they are , and many other odd things that you should know…

The Men Who Stare at Hens

Have you heard of Frederick Hervey, the atheist Bishop of Derry who hated church bells?

What about Samuel Boyce, the poet who couldn’t afford trousers?

Not even Mary Monckton, who once stole a live hedgehog from a dinner party?

The Men Who Stare at Hens is a gentle meander down the byways and highways of Irish history, remembering the wonderful array of eccentrics that made their mark on their times.

A Splendidly Smutty Dictionary of Sex

Did you know that women never wore knickers until the late 18th century? That Cleopatra reputedly invented the first vibrator? The rather odd history of the condom? What it means to give someone a green gown—and who was the first person to join the mile-high club?

A Splendidly Smutty Dictionary of Sex covers an array of historical characters and their sex lives—from Chaucer to Wallis Simpson, from Rockefeller to a future king of England. Together with the definitive histories of vibrators, the merkin and the word “f–k” amongst others, this is the must have book of the year!

A Curious Guide to London

From petticoat duels and lucky cats to the Stiffs Express, Lord Nelson’s spare nose, the Piccadilly earthquake and the Great Beer Flood of 1814, A Curious Guide to London takes you on a captivating, wildly entertaining tour of the city you think you know, unearthing the capital’s secrets and commemorating its rich, colourful and unusual history.

Brimming with tales of London’s forgotten past, its strangest traditions and its most eccentric inhabitants, this book celebrates the unique, the unusual and the unknown.

Perfect for tourists, day-trippers, commuters and the millions of people who call London home, this alternative guidebook will make you look at the city in a whole new light.

Codes for living quietly

“More semi-controlled madness from Galway`s genius wordsmith….in our opinion his best work yet..”

The Language of Exile

“Another mixture of controlled madness and penetrating insight from a poet with a unique talent and a perceptive eye..”

Ramblings of an unkempt man

“The ramblings of an unkempt man, but what ramblings….. Leyland speaks in tongues unlike any other poet we have known…”

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