Ever wondered which member of the royal family was nicknamed Action Man? Which footballer was the Black Pearl? Or who was The Greatest? Or what pet name Marlene Dietrich gave to Ernest Hemingway?

From the affectionate and humorous to the derogatory and vitriolic, the Oxford Dictionary of Nicknames is a scintillating collection which brings together famous people, places, events, and organisations with the nicknames that epitomize them.

With broad coverage of politicians, monarchs, sports people, musicians, actors, and much more, the Oxford Dictionary of Nicknames explores the reasons behind the sobriquets of the famous and looks at contrasting attitudes to controversial figures past and present. Examples include Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Young Pretender, Attila the Hen and the Blessed Margaret, the Comeback Kid and Slick Willy.

The Oxford Dictionary of Nicknames covers not only nicknames for people but also for famous places, buildings, and institutions such as the Cobblers, the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, Cottonopolis, and the Cockpit of Europe.

Where do nicknames come from? Some are a pun on a person's name (Thorpedo, Bathing Towel, Tugga Waugh, Chariots of Offiah), others are based on rhyme (Elvis the Pelvis, the Muscles from Brussels), while others refer simply to physical characteristics (the Little Wonder, Big Jack, Little Sparrow).

Some are less complimentary (Bloody Balfour, the Famine Queen, Superbrat, and Doris Karloff) whilst others express respect and admiration (the Father of the Constitution, the Apostle of Free Trade, the Wizard of the Dribble) but one thing nicknames do have in common is that they all serve as a fascinating capsule biography of the thing they represent.