Edward Bulwer-Lytton was an English novelist and playwright who coined the famous phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword" in one of his plays, along with other expressions still used today, like "the great unwashed." He wrote popular historical novels, including The Last Days of Pompeii. Today a humorous bad-writing contest, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, is named after his famously long opening sentences.