Are women really more polite than men? What is the best way to apologise? And when is it OK to swear?

Politeness rules our day-to-day lives, whether it's speaking to colleagues about issues at work, dealing with difficult family members or wondering if you should eat the last piece of pie. For years, Professor Louise Mullany has been examining the prevalence and power of politeness in our everyday speech and actions, and discovering what this says about us.

In Polite, Louise shows how the unseen science of politeness governs everything we do, from what we say to how we act, and reveals how a better understanding of the rules and norms of politeness can help us in all aspects of our work, leisure and home lives.

And, in doing so, she answers the age-old question... are politeness standards really declining?

Little Book of Prada is the pocket-sized and beautifully illustrated story of the legendary fashion house. Understated elegance and luxury, technologically advanced fabrics and sublime originality of design are all hallmarks of the House of Prada. In this miniature monograph, Laia Farran Graves documents the history and heritage of the brand, from the company's origins as a leather-goods manufacturer to the global fashion empire created by Miuccia Prada. Little Book of Prada explores the evolutions and innovations of the brand, as well as a design ethos informed by an interest in minimalism and contemporary art. Images of individual garments, catwalk shots and fashion photography pay tribute to one of the world's most influential fashion houses and the woman behind it, in a perfectly designed and stylish format that makes a perfect gift for any lover of fashion.

Part of the Pop Goes the Decade series, this book looks at one of the most memorable decades of the 20th century, highlighting pop culture areas such as film, television, sports, technology, advertising, fashion, and art. All in the Family. Barry Manilow, Donna Summer, and Olivia Newton-John; Styx, Led Zeppelin, and The Jackson Five. Jaws, Rocky, The Exorcist, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Pop Goes the Decade: The Seventies takes a sweeping look at all of the cultural events and developments that made the 1970s a highly memorable era of change and new thinking. This book explores the cultural and social framework of the 1970s, focusing on pop culture areas that include film, television, sports, technological innovations, clothing, and art. A timeline highlights significant cultural moments, and a "controversies in pop culture" section explores the pop culture items and moments of the 1970s that shocked the public and challenged underlying social mores. The book also includes a "Game Changers" section that identifies the public figures and celebrities who had the largest influence during the decade, a technology section that explains how media, news, and culture were shared, and a "Legacy" section that identifies concepts and events from the 1970s that still affect Americans today.

AI is the greatest threat to our existence that we have ever faced.

The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction – but it’s not too late to change course. Two pioneering researchers in the field, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares, explain why artificial superintelligence would be a global suicide bomb and call for an immediate halt to its development.

The technology may be complex but the facts are simple: companies and countries are in a race to build machines that will be smarter than any person, and the world is devastatingly unprepared for what will come next.

Could a machine superintelligence wipe out our entire species? Would it want to? Would it want anything at all? In this urgent book, Yudkowsky and Soares explore the theory and the evidence, present one possible extinction scenario and explain what it would take for humanity to survive.

The world is racing to build something truly new – and if anyone builds it, everyone dies.

We need to think differently about African economics.

For centuries, Westerners have tried to ‘fix’ African economies. From the abolition of slavery onwards, missionaries, philanthropists, development economists and NGOs have arrived on the continent, full of good intentions and bad ideas. Their experiments have invariably gone awry, to the great surprise of all involved.

In this short, bold story of Western economic thought about Africa, historian Bronwen Everill argues that these interventions fail because they start from a misguided premise: that African economies just need to be more like the West. Ignoring Africa's own traditions of economic thought, Europeans and Americans assumed a set of universal economic laws that they thought could be applied anywhere. They enforced specifically Western ideas about growth, wealth, debt, unemployment, inflation, women’s work and more, and used Western metrics to find African countries wanting.

The West does not know better than African nations how an economy should be run. By laying bare the myths and realities of our tangled economic history, Africonomics moves from Western ignorance to African knowledge.

‘Super engaging and accessible’ PIERS TORDAY ‘Empowers children to be creative, perseverant and write independently’ TEACH PRIMARY ‘A must-have book for any young writer’ JANE CONSIDINE ‘An imaginative and affordable resource’ CLASS READS If you’re looking for emergency literacy help in a handy, pocket-sized book, then Write Like a Ninja is perfect for you. Crammed full of writing and grammar tips, prompts to get children thinking of rich alternatives and Alan Peat’s exciting sentences, this gem of a book is perfect for children aged 7 upwards either as an invaluable classroom aid or a brilliant dip-in thesaurus to use at home. It contains everything a budding writer needs to flourish as an author and meet the demands of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for English. This engaging, easy-to-use book allows children to write with confidence. There are awesome alternatives for overused adjectives, as well as themed vocabulary lists for describing settings, characters, food and drink, and more. From examples of metaphors, similes and superlatives to verbs, conjunctions and adjectives, this is a user-friendly book that children will turn to again and again to build their own ideas and enrich their writing. This neat little book will save hours of time spent tracking down resources and finding examples for children, and empower them to write independently using rich vocabulary, varied language and exciting sentences – all leading to becoming top writing ninjas! For more must-have Ninja books by Andrew Jennings (@VocabularyNinja), check out the Vocabulary Ninja and Comprehension Ninja classroom and home learning resources.

Empaths are highly sensitive and feel other people’s energies and emotions as if they were their own. Uniquely intuitive and hyper-perceptive, empaths are also more sensitive to collective energy, the energy of spaces, and in some cases even physical stimuli like noise. Interacting with the world so intimately is a blessing, yet it also means your relationship strategies as an empath—not just regarding romantic love, but in all areas—must be navigated thoughtfully. Romantic partners, friends, coworkers, and family members all present opportunities for uncommonly close connections, though empaths might fall into rescuing, codependency, or people-pleasing as unhealthy relationship coping skills.   Instead, learn to: * More mindfully choose between feeling with others or staying in your own energy and emotions. * Support loved ones from a place of healthy detachment and discernment. * Be more assertive about getting your needs and desires met. * Protect and nourish your sensitive system. * Understand and maximize your intuition. * Nurture your relationships to create more healing intimacy. * Engage with collective energy in an empowered way to be of service and live with more purpose.   Author and professional intuitive Tanya Carroll Richardson has worked with thousands of empath clients from all over the world. Here she presents a guide to relationships of all kinds with empaths and sensitives specifically in mind, complete with quizzes, interactive exercises, and helpful mantras that make this book a valuable resource for connecting with yourself as well as creating more fulfilling interactions with others. 

Farming – whether domestic crops, forestry, fish or livestock – is one of the pillars of human civilization, dating back to the early settlements of Neolithic times. Today, approximately one billion people work the land, providing food and other products for our ever-increasing human population. Arranged geographically, Farming explores the many types of farm and farming that exist today. See how farmers in Malaysia extract milky latex from the bark of rubber trees, used to make everything from protective gloves to vehicle tires; be amazed at the gorgeous stepped rice fields of Bali, where the traditional subak irrigation system is created around ‘water temples’ and managed by Hindu priests; marvel at the vast corn and soya bean fields of Ontario, much of it used for animal feed to support Canada’s beef industry; learn about nomadic pastoralism in low rainfall areas such as Somalia, where herders move camels, cattle, sheep and goats in search of grazing; explore the wineries and vineyards in Bordeaux, where more than 700 million bottles of wine are produced each year by more than 8,500 châteaux; and see how freshwater prawns are harvested for export in the watery deltas of Bangladesh. Presented in a landscape format and with more than 180 outstanding photographs of farming from every part of the planet, Farming offers a pictorial celebration of mankind’s deep connection with the land that sustains us.

If you have ADHD, your brain doesn't work in the same way as a "normal" or neurotypical brain does because it's wired differently. You and others may see this difference in circuitry as somehow wrong or incomplete. It isn't. It does present you with significant challenges like time management, organization skills, forgetfulness, trouble completing tasks, mood swings, and relationship problems. In Your Brain's Not Broken, Dr. Tamara Rosier explains how ADHD affects every aspect of your life. You'll finally understand why you think, feel, and act the way you do. Dr. Rosier applies her years of coaching others to offer you the critical practical tools that can dramatically improve your life and relationships. Anyone with ADHD--as well as anyone who lives with or loves someone with ADHD--will find here a compassionate, encouraging guide to living well and with hope.

In the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election, news spread about Project 2025, a nearly 1,000-page document published by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. The debates―and anxiety―surrounding this initiative have only increased as authors of the Project assume positions of power in the second Trump administration.

So, what is Project 2025, exactly? Who wrote it, what does it actually say, and what does it mean for everyday people around the world, across the political spectrum, in the years to come?

In The Project, award-winning journalist David A. Graham offers much-needed context and distills the essential elements of this sprawling document. Breaking down the Project’s strategy for transforming―and radically empowering―the executive branch, Graham then explains what the architects behind Project 2025 would do with that power: restoring traditional gender norms and the supremacy of the nuclear family, decimating the civil service, performing mass deportations, reducing corporate regulation and worker protections, and more.

Project 2025 is the intellectual blueprint for the new administration, Graham argues, and its tenets should not be legible only to policy wonks. Authoritative yet highly accessible, The Project demystifies it for those whose lives it will impact most.

A powerful memory brings obvious advantages in educational, career and social terms. At school and college those certificates that provide a passport to a career depend heavily on what you can remember in the exam room. In the world of work, being able to recall details which slip the minds of colleagues will give you a competitive edge. In addition, one of the secrets of being popular with customers and friends is to remember their names and the little things that make them feel they matter to you. This popular book, now in its second edition, explains clearly how you can maximise your memory in order to achieve your academic, professional and personal goals.

This book explores the subject of human memory in all its dimensions - how it works physiologically and chemically, how it develops by conditioning and training, how it sometimes plays tricks on us to protect us, how it can fail through physiological damage and what we can do if it does. Now in its second edition, it will be essential reading for students of psychology, nursing, medicine and other disciplines concerned with understanding and management of human behaviour.

The small size means it will fit in a pocket or bag. This special pocket edition of features an elegant bonded-leather binding, distinctive gilt edging, and decorative endpapers. It's the perfect gift for anyone interested in Irish folklore.

A treasury of stories celebrating the wonders of winter, and the qualities within that warm our hearts through the long cold. This stunning book brings together a selection of wintery tales from all over the world - from North America to Siberia, Scotland, France, Russia and Norway. Written by award-winning author Dawn Casey and with beautifully detailed artwork by illustrator Zanna Goldhawk, this is a magical book to be treasured for generations to come.

Was your childhood dysfunctional?
Was your parent more like a demanding child than a loving caregiver?
Perhaps your parent is a narcissist.

Raised by Narcissists helps you identify parental narcissism and narcissistic abuse to understand the harmful dynamics at play in a toxic family environment - and shows you how to heal and move forward with your life.
You will learn how to:

- Manage an ongoing relationship with your parent, including going low-contact and no-contact
- Address fractured family relationships
- Combat inherited negative self-beliefs and unhealthy thought patterns
- Break the trauma cycle to build a loving family of your own

Our childhoods shape us, but they are not a life sentence. Compassionate and practical, Dr Sarah Davies draws on clinical expertise and personal experience to acknowledge the complexity of being a narcissist's child and repair the damage from your upbringing.

It is generally accepted today, and also UK government policy, that educational authorities must make provision for meeting the needs of gifted children. But how should they go about it? There is so much lack of agreement about what is the best strategy, about how to identify the gifted youngsters and even about what the concept of giftedness means. The author is a leading expert, who holds a doctorate from Manchester University in this subject and is a former Research Director of the Mensa Foundation for Gifted Children. In plain English, in a balanced way and in a logical order, he covers everything a teacher, or a parent needs to know to meet the challenge of educating a gifted child.

'A pin-up and an oracle for millennial women.' Dolly Alderton In her remarkable literary debut, Taylor (AKA Self Esteem) will explore the devolution of a woman.

‘What’s so wonderful about Bramesco’s book, outside of a visually splendid layout that embraces the first word of that title with detailed color breakdowns of each palette, is how much it enhances the critical language of the average viewer.’ – Brian Tallerico, Editor of RogerEbert.com Taking you from the earliest feature films to today, Colours of Film introduces 50 iconic movies and explains the pivotal role that colour played in their success. The use of colour is an essential part of film. It has the power to evoke powerful emotions, provide subtle psychological symbolism and act as a narrative device. Wes Anderson’s pastels and muted tones are aesthetically pleasing, but his careful use of colour also acts as a shorthand for interpreting emotion. And let’s not forget Schindler’s List (1993, dir. Steven Spielberg), in which a bold flash of red against an otherwise black-and-white film is used as a powerful symbol of life, survival and death. In Colours of Film, film critic Charles Bramesco introduces an element of cinema that is often overlooked, yet has been used in extraordinary ways. Using infographic colour palettes, and stills from the movies, this is a lively and fresh approach to film for cinema-goers and colour lovers alike. He also explores in fascinating detail how the development of technologies have shaped the course of modern cinema, from how the feud between Kodak and Fujifilm shaped the colour palettes of the 20th Century's greatest filmakers, to how the advent of computer technology is creating a digital wonderland for modern directors in which anything is possible. ​Filled with sparkling insights and fascinating accounts from the history of cinema, Colours of Film is an indispensable guide to one of the most important visual elements in the medium of film.

Today, I’m starting a ‘rent a person who does nothing‘ service . . . Except for very simple conversation, I’m afraid I can do nothing. Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told that he was a ‘do-nothing’ because he lacked initiative. Dispirited and unemployed, it occurred to him that if he was so good at doing nothing, perhaps he could turn it into a business. And with one tweet, he began his business of renting himself out . . . to do nothing. Morimoto, aka Rental Person, provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. Sitting with a client undergoing surgery, accompanying a newly-divorced client to her favourite restaurant, visiting the site of a client’s suicide attempt are just a few of his thousands of true life adventures. He is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger and the curious encounters he shares are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology. In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.

In this book Adrian Koopman details the complex relationship between plants, the Zulu language and Zulu culture. Zulu plant names do not just identify plants, they tell us a lot more about the plant, or how it is perceived or used in Zulu culture. For example, the plant name umhlulambazo (what defeats the axe’ tells us that this is a tree with hard, dense wood, and that usondelangange (come closer so I can embrace you) is a tree with large thorns that snag the passer-by. In a similar vein, both umakuphole (let it cool down) and icishamlilo (put out the fire) refer to plants that are used medicinally to treat fevers and inflammations. Plants used as the base of love-charms have names that are particularly colourful, such as unginakile (she has noticed me), uvelabahleke (appear and they smile) and the wonderfully named ungcingci-wafika-umntakwethu (how happy I am that you have arrived, my sweetheart!). And then there are those plant names that are just plain intriguing, if not mystifying: umakhandakansele (the heads of Mr Ratel), isandlasonwabu (hand of a chameleon), intombikayibhinci (the girl does not wear clothes) and ukhuningomile (piece of firewood, I am thirsty).

African perspectives on concepts such as gender, feminism and the family are vastly different from their Western counterparts. Similarly, mechanisms of socialisation such as religion, capitalism and the law require context-specific application to the notion of polygyny. This book interrogates the construction of gender identity in adults raised in Zulu polygynous families in the Hammarsdale area in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It highlights the complexities of gender identities as participants negotiate between modern, constitutional, individual freedoms and patriarchal, cultural, communal customs and traditions. The themes also point to the contestation between individuality and collectivism in the construction of gender identity within polygynous families in Zulu culture. The South African Constitution guarantees gender equality and individual rights and freedoms for its citizens, yet customary law practices, such as polygyny, appear to contravene these principles. The participants reveal that although women and men experience different influences, they cite similar prevalent factors that have a bearing on their gender identity construction, namely, gender role socialisation, naming practices and the principle of seniority.