Description
The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus by Joshua Kendall is a biographical work that explores the life of Peter Mark Roget, the creator of the famous Thesaurus.
The book traces Roget’s development from childhood through his career as a polymath, physician, and scholar, highlighting his lifelong habit of making detailed lists as a way of imposing order on the world around him. It also examines his personal struggles, including family tragedy, emotional challenges, and the broader intellectual climate of his time.
Alongside his scientific and linguistic achievements, the narrative includes episodes from Roget’s varied life, such as his work with early medical experiments, encounters in Napoleonic-era Europe, and his contributions to scientific thought. The book presents a portrait of a complex figure whose work on language continues to shape how people understand and organise words today.
