Tom Read Wilson is here to take us on a rip-roaring tour through some of the most astonishing and amusing words in the English language with Every Word Tells a Story. See how the English language evolved in this extraordinary exploration of the origins of everyday words. Full of funny stories and fascinating facts, Tom Read Wilson knows even the most ordinary-sounding word can have the most surprising story behind it! Did you know, for instance, that: The word 'bloomers' comes from Amelia Bloomer, who was a women's rights activist and owner and editor of the first U.S. newspaper edited by and for women, who wanted to move more freely in her knickers? Or that the word 'daisy' comes from the Old English daeges eage, meaning 'day's eye', because the petals of a daisy open at dawn and close at dusk? The word 'easel' comes from the Dutch word 'ezel', meaning donkey, because both are depenable and suitable for carrying a load? Or that English nicknames for police officers, 'bobbies' and 'peelers', both come from the names of Sir Robert Peel, British prime minister in the 1800s and creator of the first modern police force? Each fascinating word is explored through a quirky, amusing story alongside the etymology, word origin and definition. Paired with beautiful, characterful illustrations by Ian Morris, Every Word Tells a Story is a perfect book for young wordsmiths, encouraging kids and adults alike to have fun whilst learning about language.

Our protagonist Zach develops a love of reading thanks to the stubborn efforts of his friend Ro, who reveals the imaginative power of books. Zach isn't convinced that books are for him - they're too long, they're boring and he would rather watch TV. But thanks to his friend Ro's stubborn efforts, Zach falls for books hook, line and sinker, and loses himself in a world of dinosaurs, princesses, pirates, football and rocketships - anything and everything the library has to offer. The benefits of reading for pleasure are well researched. As well as being linked to academic attainment, reading for pleasure can increase empathy, our understanding of our own identity, and improve mental health. These outcomes are most likely when reading takes place out of free choice. Through lively rhymes and dynamic illustrations, The Library Book helps early readers understand the plethora of books available to them through their local library and encourages parents, guardians and teachers to help children find books that appeal to their personal interests. Written in a catchy rhyming style by bestselling author Gabby Dawnay, The Library Book will trigger a love of words in readers of all abilities, while Ian Morris' inventive watercolour illustrations - which are reminiscent of two British illustration greats, Quentin Blake and Chris Riddell - make Zach's emotional journey come alive. The combination is a picture book that will inspire a love of libraries, reading, books and words in even the most reluctant reader.

This is a story about a young Oxfordshire lad's passage through life as told by history, starting with the Iron Age and finishing with the Great War, as an Ol' Chap. It is also about the small hamlet of Tiddington - about eight miles from Oxford - where the author was born and has lived all of his life.

'Ian Morris has established himself as a leader in making big history interesting and understandable' Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel 'Morris succeeds triumphantly at cramming 10,000 years of history into a single book' Robert Colvile, Times Geography is Destiny tells the history of Britain and its changing relationships with Europe and the wider world, from its physical separation at the end of the Ice Age to the first flickers of a United Kingdom, struggles for the Atlantic, and rise of the Pacific Rim. Applying the latest archaeological evidence, Ian Morris explores how geography, migration, government and new technologies interacted to produce regional inequalities that still affect us today. He charts Britain's geopolitical fortunes over thousands of years, revealing its transformation from a European satellite into a state at the centre of global power, commerce, and culture. But as power and wealth shift from West to East, does Britain's future lie with Europe or the wider world?

'Ian Morris has established himself as a leader in making big history interesting and understandable' Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel 'Morris succeeds triumphantly at cramming 10,000 years of history into a single book' Robert Colvile, Times Geography is Destiny tells the history of Britain and its changing relationships with Europe and the wider world, from its physical separation at the end of the Ice Age to the first flickers of a United Kingdom, struggles for the Atlantic, and rise of the Pacific Rim. Applying the latest archaeological evidence, Ian Morris explores how geography, migration, government and new technologies interacted to produce regional inequalities that still affect us today. He charts Britain's geopolitical fortunes over thousands of years, revealing its transformation from a European satellite into a state at the centre of global power, commerce, and culture. But as power and wealth shift from West to East, does Britain's future lie with Europe or the wider world?

War is one of the greatest human evils. It has ruined livelihoods, provoked unspeakable atrocities and left countless millions dead. It has caused economic chaos and widespread deprivation. And the misery it causes poisons foreign policy for future generations. But, argues bestselling historian Ian Morris, in the very long term, war has in fact been a good thing. In his trademark style combining inter-disciplinary insights, scientific methods and fascinating stories, Morris shows that, paradoxically, war is the only human invention that has allowed us to construct peaceful societies. Without war, we would never have built the huge nation-states which now keep us relatively safe from random acts of violence, and which have given us previously unimaginable wealth. It is thanks to war that we live longer and more comfortable lives than ever before. And yet, if we continue waging war with ever-more deadly weaponry, we will destroy everything we have achieved; so our struggles to manage warfare make the coming decades the most decisive in the history of our civilisation. In War: What Is It Good For? Morris brilliantly dissects humanity's history of warfare to draw startling conclusions about our future.

Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West -- and what this portends for the 21st century.
There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor -- geography, climate, or culture perhaps -- made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future -- in a way no one has ever done before.

"From the Hardcover edition."

A "New York Times""Book Review" Editors' Choice
An "Economist" Best Book of the Year
A story fifty thousand years in the making, "Why the West Rules--for Now" claims a place among the modern classics of world history. Author Ian Morris--polymath, internationally renowned scholar, and "the world's most talented ancient historian" (Niall Ferguson)--explains anew the story of Western dominance in this unified theory of all things geopolitical. Describing the patterns of human history, Morris brings together the latest findings across disciplines--from ancient history to neuroscience--not only to explain why the West came to rule the world but also to predict what the next hundred years will bring. At once vibrant, scholarly, and entertaining, "Why the West Rules--for Now" is "a stunningly informative, imaginative, and engaging account...provocative...and intellectually stimulating" (Glenn C. Altschuler, "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette").

This updated edition is a theoretical and practical guide to implementing a well-being programme in your school. The book covers three areas: well-being as a philosophy of education, the teaching approach to well-being and the content that might form a well-being programme in a school. It is also a manifesto for a meaningful aim to education. There has recently been an explosion of interest in positive psychology and the teaching of well-being and 'happiness' in the PSHE world in schools and many teachers are looking for clear information on how to implement these potentially life-changing ideas in the classroom. This book provides an introduction to the theory of positive psychology and a practical guide on how to implement the theory in (primarily secondary) schools. It is written by Ian Morris who worked under Anthony Seldon at Wellington College which is well-known for its well-being and happiness curriculum.

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need--from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past--and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

Zach isn't convinced that books are for him - they're too long, they're boring and he would rather watch TV. But thanks to his friend Ro's stubborn efforts, Zach falls for books hook, line and sinker, and loses himself in a world of dinosaurs, princesses, pirates, football and rocketships - anything and everything the library has to offer. The benefits of reading for pleasure are well researched. As well as being linked to academic attainment, reading for pleasure can increase empathy, our understanding of our own identity, and improve mental health. These outcomes are most likely when reading takes place out of free choice. Through lively rhymes and dynamic illustrations, The Library Book helps early readers understand the plethora of books available to them through their local library and encourages parents, guardians and teachers to help children find books that appeal to their personal interests. Written in a catchy rhyming style by bestselling author Gabby Dawnay, The Library Book will trigger a love of words in readers of all abilities, while Ian Morris' inventive watercolour illustrations - which are reminiscent of two British illustration greats, Quentin Blake and Chris Riddell - make Zach's emotional journey come alive. The combination is a picture book that will inspire a love of libraries, reading, books and words in even the most reluctant reader. With 32 illustrations in colour

"Teaching Character in the Primary Classroom provides an excellent and very accessible overview of the emerging field of character education. It covers, in detail, the theory of character education as well as advice and guidance about how this should be applied in practice in primary schools." Professor James Arthur, University of Birmingham Character matters. As more and more schools are choosing to teach Character Education, trainee and beginning teachers need to know more. What is Character Education? Can it really be 'taught'? How does children's learning benefit from discussions around character in the classroom? How do I teach it? What does good teaching of Character Education look like in the classroom? Teaching Character Education in Primary schools tackles these questions, and many more. This is a practical guide to why and how we can teach character in primary schools. It begins by exploring why character matters and considers what 'character' is and (importantly) what it is not. It goes on to discuss the place for teaching character in primary education and includes practical guidance on how it can be taught. The text also looks at character beyond the classroom, how parents and the wider community can be included in the teaching of character and how outdoor learning and education can contribute. This book is written for all those who are new to teaching character.

Historians and archaeologists normally assume that the economies of ancient Greece and Rome between about 1000 BC and AD 500 were distinct from those of Egypt and the Near East. However, very different kinds of evidence survive from each of these areas, and specialists have, as a result, developed very different methods of analysis for each region. This book marks the first time that historians and archaeologists of Egypt, the Near East, Greece, and Rome have come together with sociologists, political scientists, and economists, to ask whether the differences between accounts of these regions reflect real economic differences in the past, or are merely a function of variations in the surviving evidence and the intellectual traditions that have grown up around it. The contributors describe the types of evidence available and demonstrate the need for clearer thought about the relationships between evidence and models in ancient economic history, laying the foundations for a new comparative account of economic structures and growth in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need--from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past--and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

In this, the first comprehensive one-volume survey of the economies of classical antiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarise the current state of scholarship in their specialised fields and sketch new directions for research. The approach taken is both thematic, with chapters on the underlying determinants of economic performance, and chronological, with coverage of the whole of the Greek and Roman worlds extending from the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. The contributors move beyond the substantivist-formalist debates that dominated twentieth-century scholarship and display a new interest in economic growth in antiquity. New methods for measuring economic development are explored, often combining textual and archaeological data that have previously been treated separately. Fully accessible to non-specialist, the volume represents a major advance in our understanding of the economic expansion that made the civilisation of the classical Mediterranean world possible.

In this, the first comprehensive one-volume survey of the economies of classical antiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarise the current state of scholarship in their specialised fields and sketch new directions for research. The approach taken is both thematic, with chapters on the underlying determinants of economic performance, and chronological, with coverage of the whole of the Greek and Roman worlds extending from the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. The contributors move beyond the substantivist-formalist debates that dominated twentieth-century scholarship and display a new interest in economic growth in antiquity. New methods for measuring economic development are explored, often combining textual and archaeological data that have previously been treated separately. Fully accessible to non-specialist, the volume represents a major advance in our understanding of the economic expansion that made the civilisation of the classical Mediterranean world possible.

The archaeology of classical Greece developed in the shadow of Greek historical scholarship. Many modern developments in archaeology have been neglected, and classical archaeology has become something of a backwater. The contributors to this book review the history of the field and aim to demonstrate that modern archaeological approaches can contribute to a richer understanding of Greek society. They insist that this complex, literate and highly unusual society poses important questions for archaeologists of other regions.

This study of the changing relationships between burial rituals and social structure in Early Iron Age Greece will be required reading for all archaeologists working with burial evidence, in whatever period. This book differs from many topical studies of state formation in that unique and particular developments are given as much weight as those factors which are common to all early states. The ancient literary evidence and the relevant historical and anthropological comparisons are extensively drawn on in an attempt to explain the transition to the city-state, a development which was to have decisive effects for the subsequent development of European society.

In the last thirty years, there have been fierce debates over how civilizations develop and why the West became so powerful. "The Measure of Civilization" presents a brand-new way of investigating these questions and provides new tools for assessing the long-term growth of societies. Using a groundbreaking numerical index of social development that compares societies in different times and places, award-winning author Ian Morris sets forth a sweeping examination of Eastern and Western development across 15,000 years since the end of the last ice age. He offers surprising conclusions about when and why the West came to dominate the world and fresh perspectives for thinking about the twenty-first century.

Adapting the United Nations' approach for measuring human development, Morris's index breaks social development into four traits--energy capture per capita, organization, information technology, and war-making capacity--and he uses archaeological, historical, and current government data to quantify patterns. Morris reveals that for 90 percent of the time since the last ice age, the world's most advanced region has been at the western end of Eurasia, but contrary to what many historians once believed, there were roughly 1,200 years--from about 550 to 1750 CE--when an East Asian region was more advanced. Only in the late eighteenth century CE, when northwest Europeans tapped into the energy trapped in fossil fuels, did the West leap ahead.

Resolving some of the biggest debates in global history, "The Measure of Civilization" puts forth innovative tools for determining past, present, and future economic and social trends.

"Teaching Character in the Primary Classroom provides an excellent and very accessible overview of the emerging field of character education. It covers, in detail, the theory of character education as well as advice and guidance about how this should be applied in practice in primary schools." Professor James Arthur, University of Birmingham Character matters. As more and more schools are choosing to teach Character Education, trainee and beginning teachers need to know more. What is Character Education? Can it really be 'taught'? How does children's learning benefit from discussions around character in the classroom? How do I teach it? What does good teaching of Character Education look like in the classroom? Teaching Character Education in Primary schools tackles these questions, and many more. This is a practical guide to why and how we can teach character in primary schools. It begins by exploring why character matters and considers what 'character' is and (importantly) what it is not. It goes on to discuss the place for teaching character in primary education and includes practical guidance on how it can be taught. The text also looks at character beyond the classroom, how parents and the wider community can be included in the teaching of character and how outdoor learning and education can contribute. This book is written for all those who are new to teaching character.

"W""hen Bad Things Happen to Rich People" is a novel of social satire, a black comedy set in Chicago in the summer of 1995. The novel's protagonist, Nix Walters, is an adjunct instructor of English at a communications college in the loop with few prospects for advancement. He had become a literary punch line when his novel, touted as the next big literary phenomenon, was universally panned by critics. He and his pregnant wife, Flora, are struggling financially; however, their fortunes change when Nix is asked to ghostwrite the memoirs of publishing magnate Zira Fontaine. While grateful for a lavish author fee, Nix quickly finds his marriage, his career, and his sense of identity threatened as he struggles with a difficult subject, navigates office intrigue of Fontaine's corporation, and faces impending fatherhood. These tensions come to a turbulent climax when a brutal heat wave hits the city.
Written in the spirit of great naturalist novelists of the previous century, such as Dreiser, Norris, and Crane, with a black comic twist, Morris's first novel is a study in aspiration and self-deception in the face of unforeseen adversity. Set among the broad lawns of Lake Forest where the domestic staff skim leaves from the pool and the sweltering streets of Chicago's pre-gentrified Wicker Park neighborhood, where children plunge into the raging stream of open fire hydrants, "When Bad Things Happen to Rich People" is a broad panorama of our current social reality.

Little magazines have often showcased the best new writing in America. Historically, they have served the dual functions of representing the avant-garde of literary expression while also helping many emerging writers become established authors. Although the changing technology and increasingly harsh financial realities of publishing over the past three decades would seem to have pushed little magazines to the brink of extinction, their story is far more complicated. Small publications continue to persevere, some even to thrive. In this collection, Ian Morris and Joanne Diaz gather together the reflections of twenty-three prominent little magazine editors whose literary journals have flourished over the past thirty-five years. Highlighting the creativity and innovation behind this diverse and still vital medium, contributors offer insights into how their publications sometimes succeeded, sometimes reluctantly folded, but mostly how they evolved and persevered. Topics discussed also include the role of little magazines in promoting the work and concerns of minority and women writers, the place of universities in supporting and shaping little magazines, and the online and offline future of their publications.