Why is green the colour of envy? Why is black &evil&? Why is white pure? Why do we &feel blue& or &see red&? Why do colours have different meanings for different cultures? When we look at or talk about a colour in a particular setting we are as likely to see its cultural or symbolic meaning as the shade itself Whysometimes our grasp of a colour relates to the random way we define it Light blue is called &blue& but over the last century or two light red has become pink whereas in Russia light blue & dark blue are separate colours Does language play a part in our perception of colours? In most cases the origins of why we view a colour in a certain way goes back hundreds if not thousands of years Blue was not always a boy&s colour; pink was not always a girl&s Indeed less than one hundred years ago in the West it was the other way round This book offers a lively anecdotal treatment of the cultural mysteries of colour & focuses on the way we respond to colours the significance we give them
- & how these things change over time & from place to place It tells the story of how we have come to view the world through lenses passed down to us by art science politics fashion sport & not least prejudice
...

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
-


...

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
...

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
...

Once upon a time in Spain there was a little bull & his name was Ferdinand Unlike all the other little bulls
- who run jump & butt
...

An updated edition of the most accessible & compelling history of the cinema yet published now also a fascinating 15-hour film documentary ' The Story of Film An Odyssey' Film critic producer & presenter Mark Cousins shows how film-makers are influenced both by the historical events of their times & by each other He demonstrates for example how Douglas Sirk's Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s influenced Rainer Werner Fassbinder's despairing visions of 1970s Germany; & how George Lucas' Star Wars epics grew out of Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress The Story of Film is divided into three main epochs Silent (1885-1928) Sound (1928-1990) & Digital (1990-Present) & within this structure films are discussed within chapters reflecting both the stylistic concerns of the film-makers & the political & social themes of the time Film is an international medium so as well as covering the great American films & film-makers the book explores cinema in Europe Africa Asia Australasia & South America & shows how cinematic ideas & techniques cross national boundaries Avoiding jargon & obscure critical theory the author constantly places himself in the role of the moviegoer watching a film & asks How does a scene or a story affect us & why?' In so doing he gets to the heart of cinematic technique explaining how film-makers use lighting framing focal length & editing to create their effects Clearly written & illustrated with over 400 stills including numerous sequences explaining how scenes work The Story of Film is essential reading for both film students & the general moviegoer ...

The history of man-made flight for children growing in reading confidence From Da Vinci to the Wright Brothers find out how people dreamed of taking to the sky in complex flying machines before inventions such as hot-air balloons airships helicopters & of course aeroplanes made it all possible Usborne Young Reading has been developed with reading experts from Roehampton University ...

A lively & engaging history of the beautiful game Tells the story of football from its beginnings in the Roman Army to the modern day premiership including how both American Football & Rugby were born Usborne Young Reading has been developed in conjunction with reading experts from Roehampton University ...

Johanna Spyri's Heidi is beautifully retold following the exploits of the orphaned girl sent to live in the Alps with her grumpy grandfather Part of Series 2 of the Usborne Young Reading Programme specially written for readers growing in confidence with clear engaging text & stunning original illustrations Developed in conjunction with reading experts from Roehampton University ...