It's the most simple unassuming innocent-looking verb 'to be' Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings forms & uses than any other English word As he reveals be's multiple incarnations David Crystal takes us to the heart of our flexible & changing language He tells the intriguing story in 26 chapters each linked to a particular usage We meet circumstantial be ('how are you?') numerical be ('two & two is four')"ative be ('so I was like "wow"') & ludic be ('oh no he isn't!') & a whole swarm of other meanings Bringing the ideas to life are a host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf Jane Austen pantomime Hamlet (of course) & Star Wars with cartoons from Ed Mc Lachlan & Punch peppered throughout Full of fascinating nuggets of information it is a book to delight any lover of words & language ...

The fascinating history of castles specially written as part of the Usborne Young Reading Programme for children growing in reading confidence & ability Explains why castles were first built what it was like to live in one & the cunning tricks used to defend them ...

The fascinating history of chocolate from its origins in the rainforests of Central America to shops & factories everywhere Written as part of the Usborne Young Reading Programme designed for children just beginning to read ...

Read the stories of the amazing men & women who fought for equality during the US Civil Rights Movement including Martin Luther King Jr & the March on Washington & Rosa Parks & the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott Learn all about civil rights-what they are & why they're important This book covers the history of civil rights in the US including slavery & the abolition of slavery & segregation It discusses the momentous US Civil Rights Movement from sit-ins & protests to marches & inspirational speeches to legislation for equality There's also information about modern-day issues & how children can use their voices to become activists in their own communities Perfect for 7-9 year olds starting to read alone Level 3 Readers include in-depth information presented through more complex sentence structure with increasing amount of text to expand the reader's general knowledge & confidence in reading Additional information spreads are full of extra facts developing the topics through a range of nonfiction presentation styles such as"es lists & statistics ...

The main aim of detective stories is to entertain but the best cast a light on human behaviour & display both literary ambition & accomplishment Even unpretentious detective stories written for unashamedly commercial reasons can give us clues to the past & give us insight into a long-vanished world that for all its imperfections continues to fascinate This book written by award-winning crime writer & president of the Detection Club Martin Edwards serves as a companion to the British Library's internationally acclaimed series of Crime Classics Long-forgotten stories republished in the series have won a devoted new readership with several titles entering the bestseller charts & sales outstripping those of highly acclaimed contemporary thrillers ...

This is a new title in Young Reading Series Two which is aimed at children whose reading ability & confidence allows them to tackle longer & more complex stories It tells the story of Diwali the Indian festival of lights from its beginnings in Hindu & Sikh tradition to how it is celebrated in the modern day It is developed in consultation with Alison Kelly who is a senior lecturer in education & an early reading specialist from Roehampton University ...

Once upon a time many years ago
- when our grandfathers were little children
- there was a doctor & his name was Dolittle
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The story of the world's greatest civilisation spans more than 4000 years of history that has shaped the world It is full of spectacular sites & epic stories an evolving society rich in heroes & villains inventors & intellectuals artisans & pioneers Now Professor Joann Fletcher pulls together the complete Story of Egypt
- charting the rise & fall of the ancient Egyptians while putting their whole world into a context that we can all relate to Joann Fletcher uncovers some fascinating revelations from Egypt's oldest art to the beginnings of mummification almost two thousand years earlier than previously believed She also looks at the women who became pharaohs on at least 10 occasions & the evidence that the Egyptians built the first Suez Canal circumnavigated Africa & won victories at the original Olympic games From Ramses II's penchant for dying his greying hair to how we know Montuhotep's wife bit her nails & the farmer Baki liked eating in bed Joann Fletcher brings alive the history & people of ancient Egypt as nobody else can
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In The Story of England Michael Wood tells the extraordinary story of one English community over fifteen centuries from the moment that the Roman Emperor Honorius sent his famous letter in 410 advising the English to look to their own defences to the village as it is today The village of Kibworth in Leicestershire lies at the very centre of England It has a church some pubs the Grand Union Canal a First World War Memorial
- & many centuries of recorded history In the thirteenth century the village was bought by William de Merton who later founded Merton College Oxford with the result that documents covering 750 years of village history are lodged at the college Building on this unique archive & enlisting the help of the current inhabitants of Kibworth with a village-wide archeological dig with the first complete DNA profile of an English village & with use of local materials like family memorabilia the story of Kibworth is the story of England itself a ' Who Do You Think You Are?' for the entire nation ' Better than any historian for decades in In Search of England Wood brings home not just the ways in which buildings landscapes & written texts may be read but the sensual beauty of encounters with them' TLSMichael Wood was born & educated in Manchester He was an open scholar in Modern History at Oriel College Oxford where he held a Bishop Fraser scholarship in Medieval History as a postgraduate He has made a number of internationally successful tv series including In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great & four of his books have been UK non-fiction number one bestsellers His highly acclaimed book of essays on early English history In Search of England was published by Penguin in 1999
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Featuring Latinate & Celtic words weasel words & nonce-words ancient word ('loaf') to advanced ('twittersphere') & spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and' 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle') the author takes us along the winding byways of language via the rude the obscure & the downright surprising 288 pages Crystal David ...