David Bradley's book gleefully debunks a plethora of 'received wisdom', from the need to let a bottle of wine 'breathe', to the supposed cooling benefits of a hot cup of tea – or is it a cup of hot tea? In any case, all of it is nonsense. The brief from London publishers Elliott & Thompson, was for a hardback jacket design and illustration, the full page design and layout, and a set of chapterhead vignette illustrations.