30-Day Bestsellers

The English language is where words go to be tortured and mutilated into unrecognizable shadows of their former selves. It's where Latin, Greek, and Germanic roots are shredded apart and...

*A FINANCIAL TIMES , GUARDIAN AND TLS BOOK OF THE SUMMER* 'The fascinating story of ancient words ... new revelations await' The Guardian 'A magisterial feat' New Scientist ________________________________ One...

How rhetoric-the art of persuasion-can help us navigate an age of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and political acrimonyThe discipline of rhetoric was the keystone of Western education for over two thousand...

Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue is a hymn to the English language. In examining how a second-rate, mongrel tongue came to be the undisputed language of the globe. Bryson explores English...

I'm not a racist, but... You look good, for your age... She was asking for it... You're crazy... That's so gay... Have you ever wondered why certain language has the...

'A hugely entertaining and well-written tour of the links between math and literature. Hart's lightness of touch and passion for both subjects make this book a delight to read. Bookworms...

'Susie Dent is a one-off. She breathes life and fun into words and language' Pam Ayres ' Susie Dent is a national treasure' Richard Osman Welcome to a year of...

A new and original anthology that introduces the use of rhetoric in the classical world, from Aristotle to Cicero and beyond Classical rhetoric is one of the earliest versions of...

Thoroughly revised and expanded for a new generation of readers, this classic guide to enjoying literature to its fullest-a lively, enlightening, and entertaining introduction to a diverse range of writing...

'Brilliantly illustrates how multilingual mothers are disproportionately tasked with preserving linguistic heritage on one hand and preparing children for public society on the other - all while finding a language...

Aristotle's influential treatise on the way to win arguments With the emergence of democracy in the city-state of Athens in the years around 460 BC, public speaking became an essential...

How humans produce and understand language is clearly introduced in this textbook for students with only a basic knowledge of linguistics. With a logical, flexible structure Introducing Psycholinguistics steps through...

Would our lives, relationships and careers be better if we just STFU for a while? We live in a world that doesn't just encourage overtalking, but practically demands it. When...

When we look up a word in a dictionary, we want to know not just its meaning but also its function and the circumstances under which it should be used...

The history of writing, or so the standard story goes, is an ascending process, evolving toward the alphabet and finally culminating in the "full writing" of recorded speech. Writing without...

How did the delphinium get its name? Which parts of the body lend their names to auriculas and orchids? Who are the gentian, lobelia and heuchera named after? Why are...

'A fiendishly good read!' Mignon Fogarty, Grammar Girl The English language is where words go to be tortured and mutilated into unrecognizable shadows of their former selves. It's where Latin,...

More than anything else, language is what makes us human. Linguistics, the discipline which studies the structure, function, and phenomena of lanuage, has uncovered many surprising and fascinating things about...

'Plus Ca Change', like any good story, tells of spectacular failures and unexpected success. This is the story of the French language - second only to English for the number...

'This is scholarship at its very best. A brilliant book in every respect' Barry Cunliffe A lifetime's study brings an authoritative perspective to one of the great unknowns in human...

This book sets out to explore the way, with the onset of a new and integral relationship between text and image, the modern poster is able to evolve distinctive persuasive...