The (0) SAYING (SAY) 'never judge a book by its cover' could not be more true for Ridiculous Rules by Marjorie Allen. The cover is completely blank, whereas the book is crammed full of wonderful examples and anecdotes. Allen is an 1SPEAK critic of much of what is taught to native and non-native speakers of English, and has issued a 2DECLARE of war against textbooks and style books which tell lies. Take the ridiculous and 3MEAN rule of never ending a sentence with a preposition. The lovely — if famous — story goes, that Winston Churchill, well known for his numerous 4WRITE as well as for being British Prime Minister during the Second World War, received a manuscript back from an ignorant 5EDIT, who had told him rather rudely that he had to 6PHRASE a sentence which ended with a preposition. Churchill responded by making the simple yet forceful 7STATE in the margin: 'This is an impertinence up with which I will not put.' — the 8IMPLY being that not to end a sentence with a preposition often sounds ridiculous in English. Sadly, Allen informs us that the story is probably mere hearsay, and that Churchill may have actually only written 'rubbish!' in the margin.