Born as a Germanic tongue with the arrival in Britain of the Anglo-Saxons in the early medieval period, heavily influenced by Norman French from the 11th century, & finally emerging as modern English from the late Middle Ages, the English language has grown to become the linguistic equivalent of a superpower. Worldwide, some 380-million people speak English as a first language & some 6000-million as a second language. A staggering one-billion people are believed to be learning it. English is the premier international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, diplomacy, & on the Internet. It is thought by many to be well on the way to becoming the world's first universal language. Philip Gooden tells the story of the English language in all its richness & variety. From the intriguing origins & changing definitions of common words such as 'OK', 'berserk', 'curfew', 'cabal', & 'pow-wow', to the massive transformations wrought in the vocabulary & structure of the language by Anglo-Saxon & Norman conquest, through to the literary triumphs of Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales & the works of Shakespeare, right up to the profound & surprising effect electronic media have had on its development. The Story Of English is a fascinating tale of linguistic, social & cultural transformation, told accessibly & authoritatively. ...

The Story of English illustrates the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries & northern Germany, became the most widely spoken language in the world, & of how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered & divided into six main sections covering pre-Roman & Latin influences, the ascent of Old English, & the succession of Middle English, Early Modern & then Late Modern English to today's global language, this fascinating book also explores such factors as the history of the printing press, the works of Chaucer, the evolution of The American Dictionary of the English Language
- commonly known as Webster's
- & the magisterial Oxford English Dictionary, to the use of slang in today's speech & the coming of electronic messaging: language for a post-modern world. The Story of English is the perfect gift for any lover not just of English, but of the history & development of language. 20 x 13.2 x 2.6 cm, pages 192

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On 4 CD's. In this unique new history of the world's most ubiquitous language, linguistics expert David Crystal draws on words that best illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences & events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century ('roe', in case you are wondering). Featuring Latinate & Celtic words, weasel words & nonce-words, ancient words ('loaf') to cutting edge ('twittersphere') & spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and', 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle'), Crystal takes us along the winding byways of language via the rude, the obscure & the downright surprising. ...

The Story of Eric Clapton celebrates the legendary musician through rarely published photographs & 20 items of removable facsimile memorabilia, including posters, tickets, flyers & signed photographs. Written by a leading music journalist, this unique interactive book gives the reader a front-row seat (and backstage access) to the musician's 50-year career & is the ultimate celebration of the world's greatest living guitarist. ...

Sixty years ago Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay achieved what had been the Holy Grail of the world's mountaineers for almost seventy years
- reaching the summit of Mount Everest. The story of Everest charts the world's fascination with the great mountain, from its discovery in the 19th century through the early expeditions, the tragic disappearance of Mallory & Irving in 1924, the euphoria of Hillary & Tenzing's successful climb which was announced on Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Day in 1953, the riddle of the Abominable Snowman & the astonishing discovery of Mallory's body in 1999, right up to the most recent triumphs & tragedies. Packed with breathtaking photography of some of the world's most beautiful scenery. The Story of Everest chronicles the events surrounding this majestic mountain & recounts the struggle of those mountaineers willing to push their bodies to the limits of physical endurance by risking their lives in pursuit of the ultimate goal
- to stand on top of the world.

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Explore the rich stories, symbolism, & traditions that come wrapped up in the food on our plates
- food that not only feeds our
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Details: This fun packed sticker activity book is filled with puzzles & creative activities that go with the story of
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The Story of: Le Tour de France combines a written history & a living museum exhibit. The carefully researched historical text on the tour weaves its way through the pages, while simultaneously showing why it is such a compelling annual event. Uniquely, this book contains superb items of removable facsimile memorabilia slipped into the pages, plus photographs some that have never been seen before that bring this book to life while showing other personal items from long forgotten Tours. ...

For thousands of years, people have sought ways to overcome the diseases & disorders of the body, with methods ranging from incantations, talismans & herbal cures to antibiotics, vaccines & organ transplants. The Story of Medicine charts our remarkable progress along the road of medical discovery. In a fascinating narrative, it describes the key developments & breakthroughs in our understanding of our own bodies. Topics include: ï ½ primitive surgery
- when drilling a hole in the head to let demons out was the height of surgical sophistication ï ½ historical models of the body & disease ï ½ dead bodies hold the key
- the role of dissection in medical discovery ï ½ diagnosis
- how doctors learned to read the signs of illness ï ½ plagues & pandemics through history ï ½ germ theory & contagion
- discovering a hidden world ï ½ how the body can turn against itself ï ½ scarificators, leeches, maggots & other nasty treatments ï ½ nature's pharmacopoeia.



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