Idiomantics is a unique exploration of the world of idiomatic phrases. The very etymology of the word 'idiom' reveals what's so endlessly fascinating about the wide range of colourful phrases we use in everyday speech: their peculiarity. They're peculiar both in the sense of being particular or unique to the culture from which they originate, and in the sense of being downright odd. To cite three random examples - from American English, Dutch and Italian - what on Earth are a snow job, a monkey sandwich story, and Mr Punch's secret? Fascinating and illuminating, Idiomantics explains all... The ideal gift for word buffs and in fact, anyone who enjoys a good yarn, this playful book looks at 12 groups of idioms around the world, looking at subjects such as fun and games, gastronomic delights and the daily grind.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Kate and Nicholas Nickelby's life is bliss until their father dies. After that they're left penniless, living in London with only their horrible uncle to help them. Sent away to work as a teacher, Nicholas soon learns that things can get worse. Dotheboys Hall isn't the marvellous manor of education it's supposed to be, and the vicious trickery is just beginning. Nicholas needs to save family (and quick!), but how? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! With daily beheadings and famous buildings being burnt to the ground, Paris during the Revolution is not the safest place to be. When Dr Manette is released from prison and reunited with his daughter, everything seems to finally be getting better. But his daughter's boyfriend is keeping some dangerous secrets that lead the family on a deadly adventure. How long can 'happy ever after' really last? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! David's life isn't easy. His father is dead and his mother is getting married to the meanest man in the country. And when he is sent off to a truly terrible school, David discovers punishments more terrible than he can imagine. Surely life can't get any worse! The only happy ever afters David knows are in the pages of his favourite books. Can he rewrite his own ending? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Pip's just your average boy. He has no parents, lives with his scary sister and once met an escaped criminal on Christmas Eve - in the middle of a graveyard. Totally normal. And things get even stranger when a mysterious stranger starts paying him loads of money. Sure, Pip's loving his new life of luxury, but will he ever find out who's paying the bills, and what they want from him in return? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Oliver Twist is poor. Always has been, always will be. Being born in a workhouse means that you'll probably always be treated like rubbish. Oliver does not want a life of hard work and measly meals, but he soon learns that it's never safe to ask for more ... What Oliver really needs is a family. But is a family of thieves, kidnappers and killers really a family at all? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Filled with rusting relics and tattered treasure maps, The Old Curiosity Shop is Nell Trent's favourite place in the whole world. This is lucky because it's also her home. Nell and her grandfather have always been happy with their simple lives. But when money gets tight, the pair are thrown out of their beloved shop and into the unknown. Poor and hungry, with no one to turn to, how will they cope now? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! In Coketown, there's no place forimagination. There are facts and figures and absolutely nothing else - or so Thomas Gradgrind thinks. When the circus appears in town, it brings Sissy Jupe with it. A young girl who has been abandoned by her father and is taken in by Thomas Gradgrind. Full of fun and energy, will Sissy save the Gradgrind children from a life of fact-and-figure-filled misery before its too late? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! After surviving fourteen long years with her horrible aunt, and nothing but a doll and an old handkerchief for company, Esther Summerson's life is finally looking a little brighter. She's going to school and making friends, real friends! The only thing Esther's missing now is a mother. But long-lost parents don't just turn up out of the blue on a rainy afternoon ... do they? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

An illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens's Victorian classic - at an easy-to-read level for readers of all ages! Amy Dorrit's father has been in prison for as long as she can remember. That's totally normal, isn't it? Just like doing chores for horrid Mrs Clennam, fixing her sister's dresses (without getting any thanks) and saving her own dinner to feed her father. When Mrs Clennam's son returns from abroad, he brings with him a host of family secrets and turns Amy's normal life on its head. Could things actually get better? About The Charles Dickens Children's Collection: Bah humbug! Who says the classics are just for adults? Join Ebenezer Scrooge on his ghostly Christmas adventure, or follow orphaned Oliver Twist from rags to riches in some of literature's most famous tales from the foggy streets of Victorian London.

'Another clever criminal plunge into history' Guardian Elizabeth I approaches the end of her illustrious reign, the plague is raging in London, and the Privy Council has ordered the theaters closed. Still, author Philip Gooden's fifth novel in the popular Shakespearean series brings us a great mystery as actor-sleuth Nick Revill and the Chamberlain's Men travel to Oxford, where a local physician, Dr. Hugh Fern, has commissioned a private performance of Romeo and Juliet. While Fern's motive is obscure-an attempt to reconcile two feuding families to the prospect of a marriage, perhaps; or maybe simply a ploy to get himself a role in the production-his fate is not. Indeed, he is decidedly dead, when his body is discovered during a performance at the Golden Cross Inn. No matter that the deceased lies inside a locked room or that the pestilence has followed the Chamberlain troupe from London, Revill is convinced Fern has not succumbed to natural causes. Nor is Fern's death the only one that rouses Revill's suspicions. The mysteries multiply as a strange band of men in cowls patrols the town at night, a simple carter meets a baffling end, and a corpse changes its shoes. The fifth Shakespearean murder mystery in the Nick Revill series, set during the reign of the formidable Elizabeth I. Praise for Philip Gooden: 'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times 'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph 'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness' Crime Time 'Historical mystery fans are in for a treat' Publishers Weekly

'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times Midsummer 1601. Nick Revill and his fellow actors in the Chamberlain's Men are journeying across the Wiltshire Downs for a country-house presentation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It should be a pleasant, well-paid jaunt to celebrate a noble marriage, but when the actors arrive at their destination, Instede House, they enter a tense atmosphere. Lord Elcombe is pushing his older son into a marriage that the son seems set against, while in the nearby woods a wild man called Robin talks in riddles of long-hidden family secrets. In another quarter of the great estate lodges a travelling band of fire-and-brimstone morality players called the Paradise Brothers. The first death, when it occurs, looks like suicide, but Nick isn't so sure . . . Then a second murder happens right under his nose . . . and turns the Dream into a nightmare. The third Shakespearean murder mystery in the Nick Revill series, set during the reign of the formidable Elizabeth I. Praise for Philip Gooden: 'Another clever criminal plunge into history' Guardian 'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph 'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness' Crime Time 'Historical mystery fans are in for a treat' Publishers Weekly

'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times In the last decade of Elizabeth I's reign, Nick Revill, an aspiring young actor, comes to London seeking fame and fortune. Once there he gains employment with the Chamberlain's Men. Thrown out of his digs over an unfortunate accident, Nick is offered lodgings at a wealthy Thameside mansion by a black-clad youth whose father has just died and whose mother has remarried his uncle. Pondering on the similarities between the young man's story and William Shakespeare's newest tragedy, Hamlet, Nick is charged with the task of finding out whether foul play was involved in the death of the old man and hasty remarriage of his young, lusty wife. As Nick works his way ever closer to the truth, the finger of suspicion begins to point to his enigmatic employer Mr William Shakespeare - actor, author and shareholder in the Chamberlain's Men . . . The first gripping historical mystery in the Nick Revill series, set in the bustling theatrical world of William Shakespeare. Praise for Philip Gooden: 'Another clever criminal plunge into history' Guardian 'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph 'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness' Crime Time 'Historical mystery fans are in for a treat' Publishers Weekly

'Another clever criminal plunge into history' Guardian Elizabeth I is nearing the end of her reign with no direct heir and plots and rumours of rebellion abound. The Queen's former favourite, the Earl of Essex, appears to be eager to protect the throne, but some believe he intends to seize it. In the world of the theatre, the Chamberlain's Men are approached by a member of Essex's inner circle. He offers them money to put on a special performance of Shakespeare's "Richard II" - the treasonous drama of monarchy deposed and murdered. And player Nick Revill finds himself forced to act as a government spy and keep watch on his own company. But then the murders start. The second historical murder mystery in the Nick Revill series, set in the bustling theatrical world of William Shakespeare. Praise for Philip Gooden: 'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times 'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph 'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness' Crime Time 'Historical mystery fans are in for a treat' Publishers Weekly

Once upon a time, the worst words you could utter were short, simple and tended to be four letters in length. Now things are more complicated. To be insulted as a 'snowflake' or an 'expert' is arguably worse than being called a **** or a **** or even a ****. So what are today's 'bad words' and how are they different from yesterday's taboo expressions? This entertaining guide to the shifting sands of bad language is indispensable in an increasingly divided world in which abuse becomes ever more widespread and vituperative. Philip Gooden shows how and why taboo words and contentious expressions, including those four-letter ones, were first used in English. He discusses the ways such words have changed over the years and explores how a single syllable or two may possess an almost magical power to offend, distress or infuriate. Bad Words investigates the most controversial and provocative words in the English language in a way that is both anecdotal and analytical. Combining intrigue and scandal, the book delves into expressions connected to religion, ethnicity, nationality, politics, swearing and oaths, and includes contemporary issues like political correctness and elitism.

'Another clever criminal plunge into history' Guardian On a foggy morning in 1602, a boyhood friend of Nick Revill arrives in London. When Peter Agate announces that he wants to try his hand at acting, what can Nick do but offer him a part with his own company, the Chamberlain's Men, who are putting on a private production of Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida for the lawyers of Middle Temple. Yet within days Peter Agate is dead, stabbed to death at Nick's lodgings - the beginning of a sequence of violent deaths, each somehow implicating Nick himself. To avoid the hangman's noose Nick must discover the real murderer among a cast of suspects, including an aristocratic brother and sister, a troublemaker from a rival company and an ex-actor who once saw the Devil himself on stage... The fourth historical murder mystery in the Nick Revill series, set in the bustling theatrical world of William Shakespeare. Praise for Philip Gooden: 'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times 'The witty narrative, laced with puns and word play so popular in this period, makes this an enjoyable racy tale' Sunday Telegraph 'The book has much in common with the film Shakespeare in Love - full of colourful characters . . . but the book has an underlying darkness' Crime Time 'Historical mystery fans are in for a treat' Publishers Weekly

The English language that is spoken by one billion people around the world is a linguistic mongrel, its vocabulary a diverse mix resulting from centuries of borrowing from other tongues. From the Celtic languages of pre-Roman Britain to Norman French; from the Vikings' Old Scandinavian to Persian, Arawak, Cantonese, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Inuit and Erdu - amongst a host of others - we have enriched our modern language with such words as tulip, slogan, doolally, avocado, moccasin, ketchup and ukulele. May We Borrow Your Language? explores the intriguing and unfamiliar stories behind scores of familiar words that the English language has filched from abroad; in so doing, it also sheds fascinating light on the wider history of the development of the English we speak today. Full of etymological nuggets to intrigue and delight the reader, this is a gift book for word buffs to cherish - as cerebrally stimulating as it is more-ishly entertaining.

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, and finally emerging as modern English from the late Middle Ages, the English language has grown to become the linguistic equivalent of a superpower, and is now sometimes described as the world's lingua franca. Worldwide some 380 million people speak English as a first language and some 600 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, and diplomacy and also on the Internet. It has been one of the official languages of the United Nations since its founding in 1945. It is considered by many good judges to be well on the way to becoming the world's first universal language. Author Philip Gooden tells the story of the English language in all its richness and variety. From the intriguing origins and changing definitions of common words such as 'OK', 'beserk', 'curfew', 'cabal' and 'pow-wow', to the massive transformations wrought in the vocabulary and structure of the language by Anglo-Saxon and Norman conquest, through to the literary triumphs of Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales and the works of Shakespeare. The Story of English is a fascinating tale of linguistic, social and cultural transformation, and one that is accessibly and authoritatively told by an author in perfect command of his material.

War words have embedded themselves in our collective psyche; British politicians are fond of invoking the 'Dunkirk spirit' whenever the country is faced with major crisis or even minor adversity, and Roosevelt's famous description of Pearl Harbor as 'a date which will live in infamy' was echoed by many US commentators after the 9/11 attacks. So far, so familiar. Or is it? How many of us know, for instance, that 'Keep Calm and Carry On', far from achieving its morale-boosting aim, was considered at the time to be deeply patronizing by the people it was directed at, and so had only limited distribution? The Word at War explores 100 phrases spawned and popularized in the lead-up and during the conflict of World War Two. Substantial essays explore and explain the derivations of, and the stories behind, popular terms and phraseology of the period, including wartime speeches (and the words of Churchill, Hitler and FDR); service slang; national stereotypes; food and drink; and codewords.