Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was an English author, poet, mathematician, illustrator, photographer, inventor and insomniac. Most famous for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), he was also noted for his love of puzzles and wordplay.Gyles Brandreth is a writer, broadcaster, performer and former MP who has been a devotee of Lewis Carroll since the age of seven. He created a one-man Lewis Carroll stage show, devised the Alice in Wonderland board game and, with Sue Pearse, he wrote the musical Wonderland. In 2023, with descendants of the Dodgson family, he unveiled a plaque at Folly Bridge in Oxford commemorating the 1862 boat trip when the story of Alice’s adventures was first told.

‘Brandreth’s arrangement of Carroll’s musings, drawn from several of his published works, is charmingly formulated to pierce the darkness: “Whatever the horrors of the night, day always comes.” It’s a thoughtful gift for clever night owls.’