The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way (Bryson Bill)(Paperback)

The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way (Bryson Bill)(Paperback)

With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson

Mother Tongue - The Story of the English Language (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

Presenting a tour of English from its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, this book covers curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn

Made In America - An Informal History of American English (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

Funny, wise, learned and compulsive. (GQ). Bill Bryson turns away from travelling the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Notes from a Big Country, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the

Icons of England (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub

Troublesome Words (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

A guide to the problems of English usage and spelling. It lets you discover whether you should care about split infinitives, or were wondering if that newsreader was right to say 'an historic day'

Body - A Guide for Occupants - THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLER (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.'Bill Bryson sets off to explore the human body, how it functions and its

Down Under - Travels in a Sunburned Country (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

It is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life - a large portion of it quite

Terrorism: How to Respond (English Richard)(Paperback)

Richard English argues here that the post-9/11 War on Terror has spectacularly failed and that we now need a radically new approach to dealing with international terrorism. Recent policies have ignored the lessons of the past, and Terrorism: How to Respond seeks to remedy this lack of vision by

Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid - Travels Through my Childhood (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

From one of our most beloved and bestselling authors, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s.Born in 1951 in the middle of the United States, Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Bryson is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24

Prodigal Tongue - The Love-Hate Relationship Between British and American English (Murphy Lynne)(Paperback / softback)

'The first and perhaps only book on the relative merits of American and British English that is dominated by facts and analysis rather than nationalistic prejudice. For all its scholarship, this is also a funny and rollicking read.' The Economist, Books of the Year Only an American would call

Winning the Heart of Your Stepchild (Barnes Robert G.)(Paperback)

'I've got the love to give. Now how can I get my stepchild to accept it?' Does that question sound familiar? Whether you are presently a stepparent, a dating single parent, or in the courtship stage before marriage, the challenge of blending families is one of the most difficulty you will ever

Doing English: A Guide for Literature Students (Eaglestone Robert)(Paperback)

Doing English presents the ideas and debates that shape how we 'do' English today, explaining arguments about the value of literature, the canon, Shakespeare, theory, politics and the subject itself. In his lucid and engaging style, Robert Eaglestone: orients students by encouraging them to

Oxford Guide to Plain English (Cutts Martin)(Paperback)

Plain English is the art of writing clearly, concisely, and in a way that precisely communicates your message to your intended audience. This book offers expert advice to help writers of all abilities improve their written English. With 30 chapters, each centred around a practical guideline, its

Brilliant Essay - What you need to know and how to do it (Kirton Bill)(Paperback / softback)

The Black Death (Ziegler Philip)(Paperback)

'As exciting and readable an account as you could wish.' -- The Guardian 'Fascinating.' - Bill Bryson The Black Death vividly and comprehensively brings to light the full horror of this uniquely catastrophic event that hastened the disintegration of an age.A series of natural disasters in the

Penguin Dictionary of English Grammar (Trask R L)(Paperback / softback)

A guide to the grammatical laws and idiosyncrasies that govern the English Language. It is suitable for linguists, English Language students, and those who write in

Seeing Further - The Story of Science and the Royal Society(Paperback / softback)

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from

English - One Tongue, Many Voices (Svartvik Jan)(Paperback)

This is the fully revised and expanded second edition of English - One Tongue, Many Voices, a book by three internationally distinguished English language scholars who tell the fascinating, improbable saga of English in time and space. Chapters trace the history of the language from its obscure

On the Way Home (Murphy Jill)(Paperback)

Claire has a sore knee - but how did it happen? A story packed with imagination that all small children will relate

The Law Machine (Dyer Clare)(Paperback)

The authors explain and discuss how the justice system evolved, the way it operates - including vivid descriptions of the trial process - and how lawyers work. Revised and updated throughout for this fifth edition, THE LAW MACHINE surveys recent developments in the workings of justice and the

Trauma Is Really Strange (Haines Steve)(Paperback)

What is trauma? How does it change the way our brains work? And how can we overcome it? When something traumatic happens to us, we dissociate and our bodies shut down their normal processes. This unique comic explains the strange nature of trauma and how it confuses the brain and affects the body

The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures (Kachru Braj B.)(Paperback)

When The Other Tongue appeared in 1982, it was called 'required reading for all those concerned with English teaching in non-native situations, from the classroom teacher to the policy planner', Jowhn Platt, English World-Wide) and 'an extremely useful and stimulating collection' (William C

Bryson's Dictionary: for Writers and Editors (Bryson Bill)(Paperback / softback)

Originally published as The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors has now been completely revised and updated for the twenty-first century by Bill Bryson

Earthy Realism: The Meaning of Gaia (Midgley Mary)(Paperback)

GAIA, named after the ancient Greek mother-goddess, is the notion that the Earth and the life on it form an active, self-maintaining whole. By its use of personification it attacks the view that the physical world is inert and lifeless. It has a scientific side, as shown by the new university