If you've ever wondered where the immortal phrase "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" originated, tried to establish who first said that "truth is stranger than fiction," been puzzled by rumors that Neil Armstrong never said "That's one small step for man...," or rashly assumed that Salome's "Dance of the Seven Veils" must be mentioned somewhere in the Bible, then Brewer's Famous Quotations will put you on the right track.

Revealing the intriguing stories behind some 5,000 quotations, from Julius Caesar's supposed dying words ("Et tu, Brute?") to George W Bush's "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," Nigel Rees offers detailed insights into a host of misremembered, misattributed and generally problematic quotations.

Authoritative and entertaining by turns, this is the perfect book for browsers, the ultimate source of information on a wide range of quotations, and the final court of appeal on the vexed issue of Who Really Said What.